Click Here To Apply!

Overview 

Program Description

Sub-Saharan Africa faces a significant burden of maternal and child mortality, despite global efforts to reduce these figures. This challenge can be attributed partly to a lack of effective leadership and skilled management within health systems and centers, the crucial institutions responsible for delivering essential maternal and child health services. 

This 6-months online program directly addresses a critical gap in leadership development for the healthcare system in selected countries: Tanzania, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Rwanda, with the goal to significantly improve the health and well-being of mothers and children across these countries. The program emphasizes the need for integrated and comprehensive approaches that address various challenges to achieve sustained progress in maternal and child health (MCH).  

This is a pilot program intervention with the possibility of scaling up to reach out many stakeholders in Sub Saharan Africa and address the issues in a more sustainable manner. 

Objectives

The Center for Gender Equity’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program aims to equip executives and leaders in select Sub-Saharan African countries with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to improve maternal and child health outcomes in their communities. 

This project proposes the development and implementation of an educational curriculum framework specifically designed for healthcare system executives and leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa. This framework aims to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to: 

• Improve healthcare systems management: By fostering strong leadership, effective resource allocation, and data-driven decision-making; 

• Enhance the quality of care: Through adherence to best practices, continuous improvement initiatives, and a focus on patient-centered care; 

• Promote community engagement and mobilization: By building partnerships and collaborations with community stakeholders to address local needs and cultural barriers to accessing healthcare; 

• Champion gender equity in health: By understanding and mitigating the impact of gender disparities on health outcomes and promoting equal access to quality services for all. 

Modules/Topics:

The curriculum design will address issues of leadership, governance, management, and gender gaps identified in the selected countries with the focus on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH). It will be delivered in four modules to bring change at the individual, team, organizational and systemic levels.  

Module One:  Personal Leadership Development 

• Fundamentals of Leadership: Theory and Practices 

• Transformative Feminist Leadership
• Emotional Intelligence

Module Two: Strategic Leadership 

• Strategic Leadership and Organizational Culture 

• Building Team Culture and Collaboration
• Communication Skills

Module Three: Organizational Transformation 

• Project management and leadership 

• Evidence based Decision Making
• Strategic performance management

Module Four: System Change 

• Health System Governance & Management 

• Leading Change: Culture, Gender & SRH
• Resource Mobilization and Partnership

Learning Outcomes

The Modular Content will cover personal development, team leadership, and organizational leadership. These first three modules aim to enhance policy-level strategic engagement for leaders, equipping them to navigate through the lens of 21st-century leadership principles. The modules are designed to foster learning at the personal level, inspiring trust through influencing and negotiation, and promoting vision creation through decisiveness and strategic thinking. Additionally, they focus on enabling the execution of strategy with political savvy and accountability, along with policy engagement through analytics and problem-solving. All modular courses incorporate mind tools, stories, and visuals. Participants are expected to gain knowledge and skills that boost their leadership abilities at personal, organizational, and policy levels.

The Sector-Specific Content will focus on honing leadership skills specifically within the health sector, with an emphasis on governance and system development. This module will enable leaders to foster partnerships and mobilize resources. The content is structured to address commonalities within the health sector, encouraging participants to aspire towards systemic changes that can be realized through collaboration, synergy, technology adoption, and coaching opportunities.

The Reinforcement phase will introduce action learning and coaching for senior leaders, integrated into a project designed to help them solve problems and think strategically. This reinforcement will be supported by coaches and will take place towards the end of the training program. Groups will create action learning proposals. The action learning projects and coaching exercises will further enhance the competencies covered throughout the program and will guide leaders towards achieving their destiny.

The training covers a range of Competencies, including fostering a sense of connection and belonging, openness to new ideas, nurturing organizational learning, and promoting growth. Participants will be encouraged to maintain high ethical and moral standards, communicate clearly, exhibit flexibility, and develop problem-solving and decisiveness skills. Additionally, political savvy, strategic thinking, and influencing/negotiating capabilities will be addressed.

The Delivery of the program will involve self-learning and reflection through 12 asynchronous video courses, 9 synchronous discussions, and an action learning project. Backstopping and follow-up support will be provided in the form of group coaching and peer-to-peer pairing, ensuring continuous learning and practical application of the acquired skills.

Duration & Format: 

Duration 

The program will run for 6 months from October 2024 to March 2025 with the following key days: 

• Virtual Orientation Day (Kick-off): 7 October 2024 

• Virtual Mentorship: October 2024 – March 2025 

• Group assignment, participants work in groups on specific topics: 20 January 2025 – 21 February 2025 

• Group Assignment Assessment: 3 March – 21, 2025 
• Presentation and graduation (Virtual): 28 March 2025 

Format

Covered in 12 modules, the content will include reading materials, pre-recorded lecture videos, and other online program delivery content. There will be 12 asynchronous sessions in the program covering the content listed above. In addition, there will be two synchronous sessions in the first month of the training, followed by one synchronous session per month throughout the 6 months of program delivery.  

The materials and resources used will include: 

• Training Manuals/Handbooks, 

• Presentation Slides, 

• Case Studies, 

• Reading Materials, 

• Online Facilitation, 

• Visual Aids, 

• Technology, 

• Evaluation Criteria. 

 To ascertain that trainees have adequately absorbed the materials taught, assessment and evaluation of trainees shall be carefully conducted. The major assessment tools that trainers may select from include: 

• Individual Accomplishment: of completing all 12 online courses in time, 

• Online Discussions: to enable participants to make reflections on the course content, 

• Network of Support Team: made up of 2-4 participants, these small groups will enable collaboration and provision of practical support throughout the duration of the program, 

• Self and Peer-Assessment made through self-reflections to evaluate participants’ strengths and the improvement of one’s skills and knowledge throughout the program, 

• Formative and Summative Evaluation: through regular formal and informal assessments and an overall evaluation at the end of the program; 

• Action Plan: that the participant will prepare and implement in their home organization upon their return. 

Eligibility and Admission Details: 

Prerequisites: 

Priority will be considered for applicants from the following selected countries: Tanzania, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda. 

To be admitted to this program, the participants should meet the following criteria: 

• Currently hold a leadership role, supervisory role or project management role in the field of Maternal and Child Health, 

• Working in the Ministry of Health, NGOs, private and public health institutions, multilateral …   

• Have the resources to attend the course online (reliable laptop and internet),  

• Be willing to take on an action learning project within your institution related to your current role in MCH as part of the course work, with group coaching, 

• Be available for the entire 6 months duration of the program,   

• Have your Institution’s support to attend the program, 

• Willing to continue engagement as alumni. 

Application Process:  

To be considered for the Center for Gender Equity’s MCH EE Program, you must complete this online application, also accessible through the QR code below.  

Applications and required materials must be submitted by Sunday, 20th September 2024 at 11:59 PM Central Africa Time. Outstanding items will not be accepted after the submission deadline. Applications without all the required attachments are incomplete and will not be evaluated. 

Cost and Funding: 

Tuition/Fees: Clear breakdown of costs associated with the program, including any additional fees. 

Selected applicants will be required to pay a one-time $100 registration fee within 30 days of receiving notice of their successful selection into the program.   

Contact Information: 

If you have any questions throughout the application process or misplace the link to your application, please email genderequity@ughe.org. A representative will get back to you within 48 hours. 

Social media links: any relevant social media pages to follow for updates 

You can also follow us on UGHE social media for more updates.