AFRO-NETS> Monitoring and Evaluation of Health Micro-Insurance Schemes in Africa

[Céline Peyron <C.Peyron@itcilo.it>]

Monitoring and Evaluation of Health Micro-Insurance Schemes in Africa
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Training for trainers and promoters

Arusha, Tanzania, 
3 to 7 March 2003

Background

Today, in most African countries, only limited public health expendi-
tures reach the poor. Decreasing social and health budgets, often in-
adequate and poor quality health services, as well as cultural prob-
lems, are major constraints for many poor to gain access to health 
care services. 

Social protection is, first and foremost, the legitimate right of 
every individual. It is also a condition for social and economic pro-
gress. In many developing countries formal social security systems 
are often not giving adequate coverage to people working in the in-
formal economy, even if the legislation promotes social protection 
for all. The issue of identifying ways to extend social protection to 
workers in the informal economy is a new challenge and little practi-
cal experience in this field exists. There is a need to determine ap-
propriate mechanisms for providing social protection, especially in 
health, and to test them. Micro-insurance has been identified as one 
of many ways to provide better access to health care services for the 
excluded.

Community-based health micro-insurance schemes combine the fundamen-
tal principles of insurance, participation and solidarity. They use 
the basic principles of insurance because, by paying contributions, 
the members receive service - from the group as a whole - when they 
fall ill. The micro-insurance concept is also based on the solidarity 
principle as all the members contribute, but only those affected by 
an event covered by the scheme benefit from financial support. These 
schemes promote participation because membership is voluntary and all 
members have the right to participate directly or indirectly, in 
various decision-making bodies and to control the operation of their 
micro-insurance scheme.

Several micro-insurance schemes have been created in Africa to en-
hance access to health services for the most vulnerable. Micro-
insurance refers to the different insurance systems, which can reach 
poor people on the basis of an ethic of mutual aid and the collective 
pooling of health risks, and in which the members participate in its 
management. A number of recent studies confirm their potential to en-
hance access to health care, which has attracted growing interest 
from the general public, governments and their partners.

There is a need for capacity building on the design and the manage-
ment of micro-insurance schemes. To strengthen transparency and deci-
sion making, member's skills, especially those of managers, should be 
reinforced with respect to the management of administrative and fi-
nancial data. 


Training objectives

The main objective of this program is to increase knowledge on the 
monitoring and evaluation aspects of health micro-insurance schemes 
in Africa.

On completion of the training, the participants will possess the 
knowledge and skills enabling them to :

* Understand the need for monitoring and evaluation of HMIS;
* Monitor the activities and the daily management of HMIS, with the
  support of existing and adapted tools;
* Device measures for the functioning and sustainability of HMIS;
* Adapt objectives and the functioning to the context of the HMIS


Profile of participants

This training is particularly intended for:
* Promoters and leaders of civil-society organizations interested or
  involved in the management of community-based micro-insurance
  schemes;
* Directors and managers of community-based and provider-based micro-
  insurance schemes;
* Management and staff of intermediary non-governmental institutions
  or federations of informal sector workers / women's organisations
  who are involved in the setting up of micro-insurance schemes;
* Resource persons who wish to gain new technical capacities related
  to their activity in this sector.


Programme content

The training activity deals with following content:
1. Main characteristics of HMIS and their management.

2. The monitoring of HMIS:
*  The importance of the monitoring of the HMIS management;
*  Monitoring tools of HMIS management.

3. Principles and basic tools for the evaluation of HMIS:
*  Evaluation of sustainability of health insurance;
*  Evaluation of institutional sustainability of HMIS.

This training activity is part of an integrated training programme 
for trainers and promoters. It is a logical follow up of two previous 
training activities on the setting up and the management of HMIS. 
Upon completion of the three training activities participants receive 
a diploma of the International Training Centre of the ILO covering 
the integrated training programme.


Methodology

The training will be organised on a participatory basis to encourage 
the active involvement of the participants and the exchange of ex-
periences. Special attention will be paid to best practices and ex-
isting management systems, through case studies and group discussions 
reflecting experience already gained. The training is organised by 
the ITCILO and will benefit from technical support from ILO STEP Af-
rica and from resource persons from Africa.


LANGUAGE: English
DATES: 3-7 March 2003 

Costs of Participation

The cost of participation, excluding international air travel, is 
1,400 USD. This covers tuition fees and training materials, lunch and 
coffee breaks. The cost of accommodation and full board at the con-
ference site is 695 USD.

FELLOWSHIPS

Fellowships for training programmes conducted by the ILO Turin Centre 
may become available through development projects sponsored by United 
Nations Agencies, international or regional funding bodies, bilateral 
technical co-operation agencies, government or private enterprises. 
Candidates are encouraged to contact these organisations and agencies 
in their countries to inquire about the availability of fellowships. 
The ILO ITC Turin awards a limited number of partial fellowships to 
candidates upon request and on a competitive basis.

APPLICATIONS

Applications to participate in the workshop should be addressed to:

Recruitment Section
International Training Centre of the ILO
Viale Maestri del Lavoro 10
10127 Turin, Italy
Tel. +39-011-6936-671
Fax: +39-011-6636-767

not later than 2 February 2003. They should be accompanied by a short 
curriculum vitae. As an organisation dedicated to fundamental human 
rights and social justice, the ILO is taking a leading role in inter-
national efforts to promote and realise gender equality. In line with 
this focus, women candidates are especially welcome.

For more information on course content, please contact:
Koen Rossel-Cambier
Social Protection Programme
International Training Centre of the ILO
Viale Maestri del Lavoro, 10
10127 Turin, Italy
Tel: +39-011-6936-545
Fax: +39-011-6936-767
mailto:k.rossel@itcilo.it
or 
mailto:c.peyron@itcilo.it
http://www.itcilo.it

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