A three-day Policy Dialogue aiming to transform Public Financial Management (PFM) into an enabler of greater health facility autonomy and empower African countries to implement effective PFM systems and policies to promote good governance and integrity, kicked off this morning, in presence of the Acting Financial Secretary of Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Mr Anandsing Acharuz, at the Long Beach Hotel in Belle-Mare.
The event is an initiative of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), an international organisation based in South Africa for peer-learning and exchange for African Ministries of Finance and select line Ministries. Around 60 participants from 14 countries including experts from health financing are attending the Policy Dialogue which will be held from 27 to 29 August 2024.
It is noted that Mauritius is a longstanding and contributing member of CABRI and is currently chairing the Management Committee.
Addressing the participants, Mr Acharuz, highlighted that the Policy Dialogue comes at an opportune time when Mauritius is confronted with a number of unprecedented health challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. "It is important to allow greater autonomy and more flexibility to our health facilities so that they respond more effectively to such conditions", he stated.
He informed that some ministries including the Ministry of Health and Wellness do have some degree of finance autonomy in terms of re-allocation of funds. "We should ensure that PFM is an enabler of greater health facility autonomy rather than an impediment", he stated, adding that Finance Ministries have a key role in supporting this reform.
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Mr Acharuz indicated that the PFM is constantly reviewed to be in line with international good practices. The Ministry, he underlined, has also adopted a series of Performance-based measures including a transparent budgeting system to allocate resources more closely to expected outcomes and ensure a degree of autonomy as well as accountability.
The concept of 'Report on Performance', he emphasised, has been introduced requiring Ministries to submit its annual performance report to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development. "We have also embarked on the implementation of Accrual-Based Accounting and reporting frameworks to promote a higher degree of autonomy", he said.
Additionally, Mr Acharuz stated that the Capital Project Process Manual is being reviewed with the assistance of the United Kingdom to improve investment management and assess capital projects. A risk-management framework, he added, is also underway to support Ministries and departments in setting out the architecture of the management of risks.
Also present, the Programme Manager of CABRI, Mrs Danielle Serebro, dwelt on the role of the organisation in promoting knowledge generation and capacity building programmes for health financing professionals. She underlined that participants will be able to increase their understanding of facility-level health financing impediments and collaborate with stakeholders in addressing issues concerning PFM to enhance health service delivery.
