Office of External Relations

PAHO's NGO Initiative

Since 1990, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has embarked on an innovative course of action that responds to the complexities of health reform, decentralization and social participation by endeavoring to strengthen its relations with non-traditional allies and NGO networks working in health and human development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

PAHO recognizes the paramount importance of the role of the State in the health reform process in terms of governing, norm setting, and ensuring availability of health services for the poor and indigent. Nonetheless, PAHO also acknowledges the ongoing need for wide contact and collaborative work with other sectors in order to strengthen the capacities of the countries of the Region to analyze and formulate health policies and plans that are compatible with the national strategies for human development.

It is commonly conceded that long-term sustainable development is most likely to succeed where civil society is strong and the normal citizen has an opportunity to participate in the development processes, including democratic policy development, the construction of social consensus for change, and the implementation of program activities. In this regard, NGOs are also viewed as invaluable instruments for strengthening civil society.

PAHO acknowledges that sustainable and practical larger scale development work requires dynamic linkages between NGOs and governments; the work being undertaken at the micro level by many competent NGOs must be complementary and synergistic with the broader national systems and structures of which they constitute a distinct but significant part.

PAHO has therefore placed great emphasis on the inclusion of NGOs in the process of policy formulation and social development by facilitating the creation of sustainable mechanisms that foster collaboration between governments and NGOs. The initiative seeks to:

• Include national NGOs in the analysis of health policies, in the dialogue on health, and in the reform processes.
• Promote systematic work alliances for program planning and execution, taking into account the institutional comparative advantages of NGOs and governments.
• Provide assistance with the design of legal and operational mechanisms for the intersectoral implementation of programs.
• Promote suitable mechanisms for the exchange of ideas, methodologies, and materials among NGOs with similar objectives but different types of experience, in order to take maximum advantage of the available human and financial resources and to improve the quality of the existing health services.

The participation of NGOs and governments in different health and development sectors is constantly expanding in the Hemisphere, and will continue to grow in upcoming years. A variety of efforts to achieve this collaboration have been undertaken in the different areas of the health effort, including health in development, disease control, health promotion and protection, the environment, and health systems and services.

PAHO will continue to act as a crucial facilitator of greater collaboration and understanding between governments and NGOs in health.