Chris Collins Photo Credit amfAR

On the Obama administration’s Global Health Initiative website – which we hear will soon undergo a much-needed upgrade – the GHI lists seven principles.

No. 2: “Encourage country ownership and invest in country-led plans.”

At a session last week at the American Public Health Association’s conference in Washington, D.C., one panelist said that country ownership is a critical factor if GHI will succeed.

Chris Collins, the vice president and director of public policy at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, said that it only made common sense that US global health efforts followed the lead of country health leaders.

“It’s essential to the long-term success in global health that external funders continue to have a critical role to play, but we want countries to be taking over the responsibilities for the health of their citizens,” Collins said. “Country ownership is absolutely necessary to bring to scale any health program.”

Speaking at a session that examined the Obama administration’s Global Health Initiative, Collins said that the US should support both the government and civil society organizations together, and he warned about leaving out non-governmental actors.

“We know that marginalized populations often don’t do so well in the developing world,” Collins said, adding that those populations face stigma in most societies. “Country ownership can’t mean government ownership. It means broad multi-sectoral involvement, including government and civil society participation.”

Collins then put forth seven principles for country ownership from a donor perspective. Among them were:

-Donors should “push back” when faced with “unethical behaviors” in recipient countries.

-Donors should “get (their) own house in order” and “work more collaboratively with recipient countries.”

-Donors should provide technical experts and analysts to assist developing countries in key issues.

-Donors shouldn’t use a push for country ownership as a way of abandoning support for developing countries. “Many countries will need assistance for many years,” he said.