Part six of the 8-part series In the Driver’s Seat: A Series on Country Ownership of Health Programs. Dr. Sudha Sharma, Nepal’s Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Population and a gynecologist and public health specialist by training, spoke with John Donnelly in her office in Kathmandu earlier this month.

Q: What can Nepal’s experience in country ownership teach other countries?

A: We have just completed the development of Nepal’s health sector program for the next five years. The key elements are based on five principles of international partnership – country ownership, harmonization, alignment, management for results, and mutual accountability.

Part five of the 8-part series In the Driver’s Seat: A Series on Country Ownership of Health Programs. Dr. Francis Omaswa is the founder and executive director of the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation, based in Kampala, Uganda. Omaswa, a medical doctor, was the Director General for Health Services in the Ministry of Health in Uganda for seven years, and currently is a senior advisor to the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health.

Q: What is your assessment of the state of country ownership in health programs?

A: Donors with the money want to have a controlling say in the planning of the programs. That’s basically it. The results are not as expected.