Procurement for health in Namibia
UNICEF, with support from USAID, is proposing a set of different interventions to leverage previous analytical work in procurement for health in Namibia, to help strengthen efficiencies and procurement reforms to achieve better value for money and improved service delivery at the community level. These involve reviewing and mapping of all key recommendations from past analytical work that have not been acted upon; supporting the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to convene health sector procurement stakeholders to dialogue and agree on best options to resolve existing bottlenecks and capacity-strengthening on health procurement. Additional analytical work focusing on exploring the expansion and formalization of pooled procurement is essential to close gaps from previous studies.
UNICEF contracted hera to perform the above-mentioned tasks. hera’s work focused on supporting and building consensus between the MoF and Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) as well as key partners on practical PFM solutions to improve service delivery in the health sector, ensuring value for money and sustaining service provision for impact. The identified key actions informed the ongoing procurement reforms and long-term reforms to resolve existing PFM bottlenecks in health. In undertaking the assignment, hera completed a two-pronged approach:
Emphasizing the use of existing knowledge and providing technical assistance to the MoF by reviewing and compiling the key lessons and recommendations from past analytical work, which identified how the current procurement system negatively impact health sector procurement efficiency. The review focused on existing evidence with regards to other public financial management (PFM) related bottlenecks and possible solutions to inform ongoing reforms. This culminated in a series of dialogues between the MoF, MoHSS and partners to prioritize issues, and develop an action plan to respond.
Filling analytical gaps on PFM inefficiencies not addressed in the previous analysis. This generated additional evidence for consideration and discussion by the MoF and MoHSS. Recommendations from this analysis informed formalization and expansion of pooled procurement, including adjustments to the procurement regulatory framework This project shows hera’s capacity to provide technical assistance on public financial management and (pooled) procurement. Throughout this contract, hera provided recommendations and guided dialogue between the different relevant parties, including the MoF, MoHSS and key partners in Namibia. Conceptualising, owning and implementing health financing reforms requires close co-creation and co-working between MOF and MOH, a process hera sustained in Namibia.