Webinar IV: from frameworks to practices - experiences of sub-national governance in low- and middle-income countries

On 23 February 2018, over 100 policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders attended our webinar on exploring frameworks to practice, discussing experiences of sub-national governance in low- and middle-income countries. The webinar was organised in collaboration with Resyst and Chesai consortia and is the fourth in our series on 'Health Systems Governance Frameworks and Missing Links’, co-hosted with various partners. 

The presentation and full audio recording of the webinar will be available here shortly. 

Background

The webinar drew on a recent special series on health system governance in the International Journal for Equity in Health. The unifying theme of the papers in this series is a concern for understanding the everyday practice of governance in low and middle-income country (LMIC) health systems and all the papers are first authored by LMIC-based researchers.
 
The webinar focused on two case studies of sub-national governance in the series: devolution in Kenya and implementation of policies shaping provider-patient interactions in two South African hospitals. 

Rather than seeing governance as a normative health system goal addressed through the architecture and design of accountability and regulatory frameworks, these papers provide insights into the real-world decision-making of health policy and system actors.

Their multiple, routine decisions translate policy intentions into practice and are filtered through relationships, underpinned by values and norms, influenced by organizational structures and resources, and embedded in historical and socio-political contexts.
 
Through these cases the webinar drew attention to:

• Governance as distributed within health systems, and not just the property of national spheres

• Influences on sub-national governance, and the complex interplay of hardware and software

• The notion of ‘everyday governance’ and its role in illuminating the decision-making processes that are central to governance concerns

• The role of embedded research in documenting the ‘hidden dynamics’ of governance within health systems. 

Recording

If you were unable to join us during our webinar, you can find the full session in the video below and leave us your comments.

This is the fourth webinar in the ‘Webinar Series on Health Systems Governance Frameworks and Missing Links’, organized by the Health Systems Governance Collaborative in collaboration with its various partners.

Recordings of previous webinars from this webinar series can be accessed by clicking on the below links:
1. Simplify in order to amplify: Making governance frameworks fit for practice 
2. The trouble with the building blocks
3. What research is needed to advance accountability for health?