WAHO and the World Bank organized in Lomé, Togo the Third Annual Meeting to review the WAHO’s portfolio of World Bank-funded Projects
Lomé, Togo – The third (3rd) annual meeting to review the WAHO portfolio of World Bank funded Projects, organized by the West African Health Organization (WAHO) was held in Lomé, Togo, from February 26-28, 2019.
The aim of the meeting was to review the World Bank-funded Projects portfolio being implemented at WAHO. The opening ceremony of the meeting was presided over by the Togolese Minister of Health and Public Hygiene who was ably represented by his Director of Cabinet. In attendance were the Director General of WAHO, the World Bank’s Director of Operations for Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the World Bank Resident Representative in Togo as well as the World Bank projects’ team and Specialists and WAHO staff.
The World Bank through Dr. Pierre Laporte, the Director of Operations recognized the ongoing collaboration between WAHO and the World Bank which started in 2013 with a capacity building project in disease surveillance, the West African Regional Disease Surveillance (WARDS) Project, worth 10 million USD, but has now grown to over 800 million USD under the various projects (Sahel Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Project (SM/NTD); Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Regional Project (SWEDD); Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement (REDISSE); and West African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Project (WA-MRH)).
Dr. Laporte commended all actors and contributors to these projects and urged them to continue to learn from best practices, what worked and what has not worked while improving the portfolio of the projects implemented in WAHO to further boost the health of the population.
The Director General of WAHO, Prof Stanley Okolo, expressed his appreciation to the World Bank for all the support to WAHO and urged them to continue while WAHO would continue to implement and do the best possible to ensure that the projects’ effects are reflected on the health of the population.
The Minister of Health and Public Hygiene of Togo, Prof Moustafa Mijiyawa, through his Director of Cabinet, Mrs. Midamegbe Akakpo, thanked WAHO for chosing Togo to host the review meeting. Thumb up was also given to WAHO for all the efforts in the management of all health problems in the region.
At the end of the three-day review meeting, both WAHO and the World Bank:
- Evaluated the progress made in the implementation of each of the projects;
- Identified systemic bottlenecks at all levels (Planning, Coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation, Procurement, Financial Management and Communication); and
- Made practical recommendations to strengthen the implementation of the planned activities.
In addition, the World Bank made some recommendations to WAHO to ensure improvement in the overall management of the portfolio. Prominent among them are the need for WAHO to:
- Fast track recruitment to key positions so as avoid suspension of the projects;
- Respect the rules and conditions for partnership;
- Improve procurement process;
- Ensure sustainability of outcomes of Projects at both regional and country level.
