We are looking forward to the Building Public Finance Capabilities for Health (BPFCH) virtual Mid-Term Progress Review Workshop at the end of the month. In the meantime, our coaches are busy with in-country check-ins to appraise the progress that the participating country-teams have achieved since the Framing Workshop and the action-learning period that followed.

Olaniyi Olaleye, PFM Specialist at CABRI and coach for team Malawi was in Lilongwe for a 3-day visit this week. 

The first day focused on internal reflection and alignment around the BPFHC process and objectives. The team revisited the identified problem statement and its context, reviewed and validated the fishbone analysis, and assessed progress against existing action plans.

A stakeholder mapping exercise was conducted to identify key actors, clarify their roles and influence, and determine engagement priorities. Building on these discussions, the team identified key gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement, agreed on priority focus areas, and prepared for the authorisers' meeting with the Ministry of Health and Finance, as well as the external stakeholder engagements that followed.

On the second day, Olaniyi Olaleye and the team paid a courtesy visit to the Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Mr. Bestone Chisamile, who serves as the team’s authoriser. During the engagement, the team reiterated the programme’s objectives, approach, and country implementation process. Discussions focused on progress achieved so far, key challenges, identified priorities, and proposed next steps.

The engagement also provided an opportunity to discuss challenges affecting the health system. The Principal Secretary acknowledged that the team’s proposed problem statement was aligned with the development objectives of the Ministry and the Government, and expressed commitment to provide support. He also highlighted areas where continued support and close coordination with the Ministry of Finance would be critical for successful implementation.

Another courtesy visit followed, this time between the team and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, represented the Budget Director Winston Nywasulu. The Finance leadership discussed financing pathways for the health sector in Malawi and how best the ministry will support in resource mobilisation for gaps in health care financing, and assured support with the team in terms of coordination with other relevant donors, including development partners, to address the problems the team identified

Both the Ministry of Health and the finance authorisers' engagements provided an opportunity to clarify expectations, roles, coordination mechanisms, and the institutional support required to ensure effective implementation. Feedback, recommendations, and agreed commitments from stakeholders were documented to guide future activities and strengthen collaboration.

On Day 3, the team held a consultation meeting with a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministries of Health, Finance, Budget and Planning, Local Governments, as well as other key actors.

During the meeting, the problem analysis and identified entry points were presented to provide a common understanding of the underlying challenges affecting implementation. Stakeholders engaged in discussions to clarify their respective roles and responsibilities in addressing the identified issues and contributed to validating and refining the proposed action plans and implementation pathways.

The consultations also identified opportunities for collaboration, strengthened accountability mechanisms, and agreed on priority follow-up actions to support implementation. A dedicated session was subsequently held with the coach to review stakeholder feedback, reflect on the agreed actions, and identify strategic next steps for advancing the process. The meeting concluded with the consolidation of key outcomes, implementation timelines, and follow-up priorities to guide the Malawi team in the next phase of implementation.