RBF Health Newsletter, Issue 2, July 2009

Inside This Issue:

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Additional RBF pilots

Our October 2008 newsletter reported major grants (around $10 million each) for pilot RBF programs in four countries:  Afghanistan, Eritrea, Rwanda, Zambia, and a smaller grant to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).   All are making good progress.

Seed grants

Starting in September 2008, the Bank began accepting, on a rolling basis, applications for seed grants of $50,000 from IDA-eligible countries that were not selected as pilot projects for RBF funding. 

RBF in Afghanistan

In the provinces of Afghanistan that are supported by the World Bank under the Health Sector Emergency Reconstruction and Development Project, the basic package of health services is provided by competitively selected NGOs who, in addition to their regular service payments, are eligible for performance bonuses.

Workshops in Rwanda and the Philippines

Substantial unmet demand for country workshops in the wake of the June 2008 Kigali meeting led to a repeat performance in Gisenyi, Rwanda (October 24-28, 2008) and Cebu, Philippines (January 19-23, 2009).

RBF - Why bother?

RBF and other innovative financing mechanisms are part of a rich and constructive debate about how to strengthen health system performance and achieve better results on the ground.

Website progress

The site is being launched on July 29.  The Health, Nutrition, Population Group worked closely with World Bank Institute (Global Development Learning Network) on design of the website, in creating a pipeline of content, and in structuring the database and search functions.

Selected Reading List