This new project will support Senegal to make meaningful, sustainable improvements to its health system.

Chemonics is pleased to announce the award and launch of the USAID-funded Central-Level Health Systems Strengthening project in Senegal. The project will support Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Social Action to make meaningful, sustainable improvements to the country’s health system. The five-year, $19.9 million project will enable national-level stakeholders to participate in improving accountability and access to resources in the areas of malaria, maternal and child health, family planning, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), global health security, and COVID-19.

The Central-Level Health Systems Strengthening project will tackle health sector challenges in collaboration with stakeholders from Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Social Action, civil society, and the private sector. Through targeted technical assistance and advocacy, the project will strengthen systems within the ministry and overall government, in multiple areas including leadership and governance, human resources for health, supply chain, health information systems, public financial management, and private sector engagement. With an emphasis on ministry-owned and -led solutions, the project will build the capacity of health and non-health actors to create a more accountable, affordable, accessible, and reliable health system.

The Central-Level Health Systems Strengthening project will be led by Chemonics and consortium partners Open Development, BAO Systems, and Association Conseil pour l’Action. The team brings extensive expertise in health policy and financing reform, domestic resource mobilization, health systems and information management, and public financial management in the Senegalese context. In addition to a Dakar-based, Senegalese team, the project will leverage in-country and international experts drawn from USAID’s flagship health systems strengthening programs Human Resources for Health in 2030 (HRH2030) and the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Technical Assistance Francophone Task Order (GHSC-TA FTO).

“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to continue to work with USAID in Senegal to build on our previous health systems strengthening work implemented through USAID’s global flagship projects HRH2030 and GHSC-TA FTO,” said Chemonics’ Global Health Division Senior Vice President Julie Becker. “This project brings our work in Senegal to a new level through a more holistic approach to facilitating government stewardship of the health system.”

The Central-Level Health Systems Strengthening project will be led by Chief of Party Dr. Matar Camara, a senior-level public health expert who has extensive experience leading multi-sectoral teams to implement successful health systems strengthening and capacity building activities. As the former Country Director for the HRH2030 program in Senegal, Dr. Camara proactively coordinated communications among USAID’s implementing partners and worked with stakeholders from the Ministry of Health and Social Action and its Department of Human Resources to build the capacity of senior staff, standardize their operations, and institutionalize a reliance on data for decision-making.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I will lead a strong, experienced team to implement the USAID Central-Level Health Systems Strengthening project,” said Dr. Camara. “I look forward to improving the resilience of the Senegalese health system, with specific attention paid to addressing systemic weaknesses highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and working with the Senegalese government to integrate health policy reforms into its investment plans.”

Dr. Camara previously worked at USAID/Senegal for 15 years, where he was instrumental in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health care policies and activities to further the Mission’s strategic objectives. He is a medical doctor and holds a master’s degree in epidemiology.

To learn more about Chemonics’ work in health, please visit: http://www.chemonics.com/health

About USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) promotes and demonstrates American values of democracy and its vision of a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. Together with its Senegalese partners, USAID/Senegal provides assistance that saves lives, provides economic opportunities, expands economic growth, strengthens governance and civil society, and supports Senegal’s national development plan, the Plan Sénégal Emergent. To learn more about USAID’s work in Senegal, please visit: www.usaid.gov/senegal