25022004 Country Focus Historical Background The Country Focus

25/02/2004 Country Focus

Historical Background • The Country Focus Initiative was initiated in 2001 to provide a basis for WHO at all levels to: – better respond to the needs of countries, and – enable the countries to exert greater influence on global and regional Public Health actions. • The Country Focus under the current WHO leadership is being translated/institutionalised as a set of policies and strategies across the Organization for better outcomes in countries 25/02/2004 Country Focus

Overall Objective To make WHO more relevant, effective and accountable to Member States through: – – – adjusting WHO country presence to each country context based on WHO comparative advantages; allocating technical and financial resources accordingly; ensuring that country inputs guide WHO policy and advocacy work 25/02/2004 Country Focus

Strategic Approaches • • • Develop, review and implement WHO Country Cooperation Strategies, ensuring they are used as the basis and main input for WHO country plans and budgets. Ensure WHO’s core functions are carried out through adequate country presence. Strengthen the managerial, administrative and technical capacities of country teams. Harness competencies and assets of the whole Organization to enable country teams to perform. Facilitate dialogue and communication between all levels and across all technical areas of the Organization, and monitor the results of the WHO country focus policy at country level. Promote strategic partnerships and coordination of external inputs to support national health development. 25/02/2004 Country Focus

Country Focus Department and its Modus Operandi Dialog and networking with COs, ROs and. HQ units CSU 1 & PME GMG CSU 2 & PME • PRP • HRS • CBF & CSU 3 & PME CFD CSU 4 Other clusters & PME CSU 6 & PME 25/02/2004 CSU 5 & PME Countries Country Focus

Highlights of on-going work • • • Facilitate the inclusion of ‘bottom up’ country perspectives into the Global policy, programme and planning processes Involve HQ and Regional Offices in the quality assurance and dissemination of the Country Cooperation Strategies (CCS) across the Organization Foster the participation of country teams in the design, implementation and monitoring of global policy, strategies and initiatives • Foster cross-fertilization among countries, regions, and HQ through the systematic analysis and dissemination of technical, managerial and partnership best practices. 25/02/2004 Country Focus

Highlights of on-going work • • • Enabling effective functioning of country offices through strengthening country presence according to the core competencies needed for ensuring WHO core functions supporting the development of complementary WHO human resource policies in different Areas of Work to ensure coherent technical support at country level analysing coherence between the demand for technical support (as articulated by Member States, in CCS etc) with that provided in WHO Areas of Work working with technical clusters to promote approaches in WHO that address the needs of countries ensuring the development of WHO guidance on working with UN and other partners reflect country level needs, and they are properly disseminated 25/02/2004 Country Focus

Expected Outcome ‘The key to WHO’s work in the coming years will be a new commitment to results at country level. Five years from now, our operations will be significantly more focused in countries’ Dr LEE Jong-wook, Director-General 21 July 2003 25/02/2004 Country Focus

25/02/2004 Country Focus