 |
Sixth GAVI Board Meeting, 17 October 2001, Ottawa, Canada
October 2001
2. Roles and Responsibilities
Discussion
-
As GAVI is
now moving from initial phase of proposal development and approval to
a new phase of implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and lesson
learned, it is appropriate to take stock of roles and responsibilities
and ways of working, while keeping in mind the guiding principles
agreed upon earlier.
-
Even
though GAVI is thought to have a light structure, the
organogram (Powerpoint document 36kb) is actually quite complex, with
task forces, regional working groups, etc (1) .
-
The idea
of a lean Secretariat is not quite accurate the Working Group is
acting as a virtual secretariat, with the distinction that the members
remain in the partner agencies (2) . What is
important is that there is clear accountability for priority tasks
assigned by the Board, and that the authority of the Working Group
does not exceed that given to the Secretariat.
-
The Board
representatives from developing countries expressed a need for
clarification of their role, including delineation of their
constituencies and responsibilities for consultation. In order to
function effectively they need more support and more time to turn
around the documents that are circulated. It may be that the
Secretariat could provide additional logistical and communication
support to the new Board member from India, as it is now doing for the
Minister of Health from Mali.
-
The role
of the national ICCs should not be confused with that of partners at
the national level; ICCs have been created to improve collaboration
between partners, not as implementation mechanisms. The same principle
applies to all GAVI coordinating mechanisms at all levels.
-
As we
review the Terms of Reference on Task Forces and we consider devolving
specific functions of task forces back to partners, we need to
maintain the coordination aspect but this could be done through a
lighter structure than a task force.
-
An
external review of the functions of the Working Group, task forces and
other GAVI mechanisms may be helpful, in order to design options for
the future.
-
We need to
be careful about how we portray the relationship between GAVI, the
Vaccine Fund and the global immunization community the Vaccine Fund
is not at the center of our work but a defined and limited effort
within the larger context.
-
Capacity
building efforts must be within the context of the health system;
while we should not should dilute our own focus from immunization,
health systems improvements should be an indicator for capacity
building.
DECISIONS
The
Board:
2.1
decided to further develop the "Roles & Responsibilities" paper,
taking into account discussions and any further input based on the
paper, and the time frames agreed upon in the Proto-Board meeting
(3) . Specific decision points to be put to the Board at the next meeting.
2.2
requested the Working Group to report back to the Board as soon as
possible with further clarification on:
2.2.1 the relationship between the Working Group, Secretariat and
Board; and
2.2.2
the relationship between the GAVI Board and the Fund Board.
2.3 recommended that the Working Group consider undertaking a cost
analysis of the various GAVI mechanisms and the structure as a whole
(direct costs as well as costs assumed by Partners)
2.4 agreed
that GAVI needs to remain flexible and informal, but that workplans
should be more outcome-focused
2.5
requested that the Working Group present the Board with options, when
appropriate, rather than single recommendations; decision-making needs
to be done at the Board level
2.6
requested that GAVI elaborate its workplans linked to outputs so that
progress may be more easily monitored it should look more like a
"business" plan
2.7 requested that the analysis of financial contributions to
immunization be produced urgently to assure that the Vaccine Fund was
not replacing other sources of funding.
1. Currently, the GAVI Secretariat and the
Independent Review Committee are the only mechanisms that are completely
supported by the Secretariats budget; teleconference costs for the
Working Group and Board are also covered by the Secretariat. Task forces
are primarily supported by Partners (the Financing Task Force receives
funding from the Secretariat because of the budgetary constraints of the
World Bank); regional working groups are completely funded by Partners.
2. The Working Group, composed of partner
representatives located within the partner agencies, work part-time for
the Working Group and all costs are covered by the partners.
3. The documents and decisions made by the GAVI Proto-Board were
subsequently adopted by the GAVI Board at its first meeting.
|
 |