The major health problems affecting developing countries result from a complex combination of medical, social, cultural and systemic causes. Therefore, partnership(s) among multiple institutions, including national governments, international agencies, private voluntary organizations, businesses and universities, is a key strategy to address these problems. While many partnerships have been launched, creating effective partnerships, that realize their true potential, are quite challenging. Effective partnerships, that build on the strengthens of the different organizations, can ideally achieve what no one organization could do alone. However, often times the reasons that organizations have different comparative advantages is due to their various corporate cultural and modus operandi, which often challenges the partnership. The CARE-CDC Health Initiative brought together two very different organizations (a government research organization and a community based private voluntary organization). While we believed that there were many benefits to this partnership, there was also a lot of learning that needed to take place to realize the benefits. These differences included corporate cultures, decision-making, purpose of field activities. Based on these experiences, CARE has found that the key elements to fostering an effective partnership are that each partner must: 1) be committed to a shared vision; 2) take time to learn about the other organization (e.g. culture, build personal relationships); 3) participate in the development of joint plans that clearly articulate roles, responsibility, and ways to manage conflict; 4) perceived benefits outweigh the costs; and 5) agree to be transparent in their actions.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the challenges faced by the CARE-CDC Health Initiative; 2. Articulate how these challenges were overcome to foster an effective partnership; 3. Share lessoned learned that could provide insight for future partnerships.
Keywords: Public/Private Partnerships, International Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: CARE
CDC
Woodruff Foundation
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employed by CARE, partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and receives funding from Woodruff Foundation