Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage will welcome new member countries in 2014
As the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) movement picks up pace around the globe and many countries face the tough challenges of implementing reforms to achieve UHC, the Joint Learning Network (JLN) has decided to expand its membership. This announcement comes after a meeting of the JLN Steering Group in Accra, Ghana, on November 6, 2013.
The planned expansion of the JLN is in response to a growing demand for practical knowledge from countries on the path to UHC, and an expressed desire by current JLN members to enrich the learning process by engaging with a wider and more diverse group of reformer countries.
The JLN seeks to produce new knowledge about how to implement UHC reforms that can be used by countries around the globe. Much of the knowledge is developed through the JLN’s learning laboratory, where practitioners and policymakers from low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia are currently learning from one another, sharing innovative ideas, systematically documenting their experiences, and jointly developing new solutions that can accelerate their own countries’ progress towards UHC. They are also generating knowledge that can be shared broadly and used by other countries.
Current members of the JLN are countries that have demonstrated commitment to UHC, often as evidenced by the passage of a law, and are actively implementing reforms to protect individuals against financial risk, increase access to health services, and improve health outcomes. Countries have joined the JLN out of their own interest and desire to learn from other countries working to address similar challenges.
Member countries are represented by individuals who are typically senior-level government officials with highly valuable, practical implementation experience from key institutions involved in UHC reform in their countries. JLN participants are reflective, honest and open about what has worked and what hasn’t, and are committed to documenting their own learning to share with other countries.
A call for new member countries will be launched in early 2014. We hope to welcome additional countries to our learning laboratory and other interested countries as associate members.
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