PEN-Plus Partnership holds first all-partner meeting
The PEN-Plus Partnership convened its first All-Partner Internal Meeting on 23 June 2021. The meeting brought together representatives of 23 global and regional organizations that focus on type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart disease to review the goals, governance, and terms of reference (ToRs) of the Partnership, to learn about the structure and preliminary workplans of five Partnership working groups, and to discuss which of the working groups their organizations would be interested in joining.
Representatives of 23 leading organizations focused on type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart disease participated in the first all-partner meeting of the PEN-Plus Partnership on June 23.
Dr. Ana Mocumbi, Co-Chair of the NCDI Poverty Network Steering Committee, opened the meeting with an overview of progress that has been made in establishing the PEN-Plus Partnership through a series of technical consultations and financing roundtables in the months leading up to the All-Partner event. She also highlighted advances in implementation of PEN-Plus on the ground, including development of plans for initiation of PEN-Plus pilot clinics and training sites in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mozambique, as well as progress toward national scale-up in Malawi (which has officially launched the Malawi PEN-Plus Operational Plan), Liberia, and Haiti.
Steering Committee Co-Chair Dr. Gene Bukhman presented the working draft of the PEN-Plus Partnership Terms of Refernece (ToR). He noted that the TORs are a guiding document and should be considered a high-level commitment to the mission of the PEN-Plus Partnership and expanded healthcare access to the most vulnerable. He also highlighted that overall governance falls under the NCDI Poverty Network Steering Committee and the NCDI Poverty Network Co-Secretariat which is shared between Harvard Medical School and Mozambique Institute for Health Education and Research.
NCDI Poverty Network Co-Secretariat staff presented the structure, workplans, and logistics for the working groups over the next three years including objectives, main outputs, communications, and time commitment required. These included:
Working Group #1: e-Learning & Training
Working Group #2: Monitoring & Evaluation
Working Group # 3: Advocacy & Financing
The first three Working Groups (WG) will convene in the month of September and will hold virtual 90-minute meetings every three months after that. Two additional working groups will be rolled out later in the year, after further consultation with members:
Working Group #4: Country-Level Implementation
Working Group #5: Supply Chain
All member organizations and individuals who have expressed interest in one or more of these working groups will receive communications on how to participate during July and August.
Dr. Gene Bukhman closed the meeting by noting that next steps over the summer will include consolidating partner commitments and confirming membership as well as planning the inaugural Working Group meetings and collecting feedback to revise and finalize the PEN-Plus Partnership Terms of Reference (ToR).
For those who would like to apply for institutional and/or individual membership in the NCDI Poverty Network and in particular the PEN-Plus Partnership and Working Groups, the application form is available online here.