The Importance of Stewardship

A new level of accountability

Representatives from 13 health boards attended the Imagine No Malaria grant process training in Zimbabwe.

One of our greatest responsibilities in expanding our work in Africa is putting measures in place to ensure accountability of your donations. Although very uncommon, even minor incidents of misappropriation of funds could jeopardize confidence, credibility and program effectiveness.

How does Imagine No Malaria increase stewardship? A core component of Imagine No Malaria is empowering people in Africa through health boards. These boards are an important part of how we fight this disease. In fact, our malaria program staff have already established and trained 15 in-country health boards to govern, manage and implement anti-malaria programs.

In-country Health Boards

In-country health boards are local governance structures that oversee the comprehensive, integrated and holistic health issues for their respective annual conferences in Africa. Once trained, these health boards prepare strategic plans for annual conference health institutions and programs, including malaria projects. The health boards are the sole entity through which applications for Imagine No Malaria funds are accepted. They oversee program implementation and must provide detailed periodic reports on the status of funds and programs.

“It’s not a complicated process, but it is imperative that we have this mechanism in place before Imagine No Malaria funds are distributed,” said Shannon Trilli, UMCOR malaria program manager. “Health boards help ensure that the stewardship of donations are used for their intended purpose — to fight malaria.”

Health board representatives from throughout Africa travelled to Zimbabwe July 28th -30th, 2011 to be trained on the Imagine No Malaria grant process.

Trilli noted that the health boards serve a dual purpose for African countries.

“Once the health boards are trained, they become eligible to apply for grants from other organizations, like The Global Fund, the world’s largest funding source for malaria programs,” she explained.

Special Training Session

On July 28-30, 2011, the Imagine No Malaria team from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) held a special in-country health board workshop at Africa University in Zimbabwe. Representatives from 13 health boards learned how to apply for Imagine No Malaria grants to fund their anti-malaria initiatives.

“This training has wonderfully encompassed all of the information that we need to successfully apply for Imagine No Malaria and build our capacity,” said Lazarus FiliyaIliya, a health board member from Nigeria. “With the possibility of grants from Imagine No Malaria, our people — mainly rural, impoverished people who do not often benefit from national health services — will now have the opportunity to receive mosquito nets and other malaria treatment and services.”

The ultimate goal of the Imagine No Malaria grant process is to finance malaria-control programs that demonstrate a decrease in mortality and morbidity due to malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.

If you have any questions about in-country health boards or how the Imagine No Malaria grant process works, please contact us.