Technical assistance to the two-thirds of the world with limited resources has traditionally involved a single funding agency (government, foundation, international organization, or NGO) and a single implementing agency. Less well recognized are the synergies possible though dual-track private-public funding.
The CARE/CDC Health Initiative was funded by the Woodruff Foundation through the CDC Foundation to "strengthen the capacity of each organization to develop and implement international health programs and sustain collaboration". CCHI brought together the field and community strengths of a well-established PVO (CARE) and the epidemiological and technical skills of CDC.
The previous four speakers have provided examples of the CARE/CDC partnership: 1) socially marketed point of use water treatment; 2) strengthening the capacity of volunteer mothers to assess, classify, treat, and counsel sick children; 3) strategic planning in urban environmental health; and 4)sleeping sickness advocacy and control in Sudan.
While each of these collaborations has had its own stories of problems in learning and working in each other's culture, the bottom line is clear: 1) the technical quality of CARE, its staff, and its programs have increased substantially; and 2) CDC staff capacity has expanded beyond traditional roles of assessing problems and testing solutions to working with established on-the ground community implementers in planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating large programs.
While this private-public partnership is not unique, it identifies a type of collaboration which merits consideration as the global community searches for cost-effective strategies of addressing the developmental needs of the global village.
Learning Objectives: 1. Identify selected lessons learned from the CARE/CDC Health Initiative 2. Articulate policy implications for public/private partnerships for the 21st century
Keywords: Public/Private Partnerships, Public Policy
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Comunities and Governments in Africa, CARE field and headquarters, CDC, CDC Foundation, Woodruff Foundation
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.