MSH Partners with Amref to Launch Contracting Implementation Learning Lab Across Three Countries 

Arlington, VA—30 September 2025–Management Sciences for Health (MSH) is pleased to announce a new award in partnership with Amref Health Africa, the current Network Manager of the Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage (JLN). With funding from the Joint Learning Fund (JLF), MSH will join forces with Amref and country-level JLN teams to launch the Contracting Implementation Learning Lab, a 12-month initiative to accelerate government-led contracting for health services in Liberia, South Africa and Bangladesh.

As the Technical Facilitator, MSH will support country teams to carry out priority actions that expand the reach and sustainability of essential health programs—especially for TB services—as donor support declines. The Learning Lab will foster peer learning and collaborative problem-solving through a hybrid model of virtual and in-person engagements, including a launch session, two virtual peer-exchanges and a learning summit in South Africa.

“MSH brings valuable technical expertise and experience engaging the not-for-profit sector to advance health systems goals,” said Dr. Rahul S. Reddy Kadarpeta, Executive Director of JLN at Amref Health Africa. “This partnership will enable the Learning Lab to help countries implement proven contracting approaches and generate actionable, scalable best practices for health system reform.”

Each participating country has defined its key focus:

• In Liberia, the effort will update its Private Sector Engagement Strategy to institutionalize domestic contracting for TB services, convene stakeholders and revise the terms of reference for a technical working group.
• In Bangladesh, the goal is to develop a country-specific contracting toolkit, revise the national action plan, and strengthen procurement capacity of facility managers while leveraging international experience in policy advocacy.
• In South Africa, the Lab will support legal reform to establish a state-owned enterprise for occupational disease compensation—building on the country’s established public–private partnership in the mining sector.

MSH will provide hands-on coaching, model quarterly blogs, and produce a case study compendium to document lessons learned. These outputs will be shared globally via JLN and MSH platforms, contributing to a growing body of evidence on effective government-led contracting.

This initiative underscores MSH’s commitment to strengthening local capacity, promoting peer-driven learning and building sustainable health systems. It builds on the legacy of the USG-funded Health Systems for Tuberculosis (HS4TB) project, which supported countries in designing sustainable, locally-led contracting mechanisms for TB services. It also advances the JLN’s mission of enabling peer-to-peer learning and country-driven solutions for universal health coverage—a mission MSH supported as Network Manager from 2018 to 2023.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Alexandra Emilien

Related articles:

• Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage
• USAID-funded, MSH-led HS4TB project