Using CLA to Institutionalize and Assess a Multisectoral Approach in 16 Countries

The Preparedness & Response Project (P&R) was tasked with supporting the establishment and strengthening of multisectoral coordinating mechanisms to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks in 16 countries. While academics, development partners and host country governments generally agree that a multisectoral 'One Health' approach is critical, there was no evidence base for institutionalizing the approach and no blueprint for what a multisectoral coordinating mechanism should be, how it should be set up or how it should operate.  As a result, there were also no established metrics for measuring One Health collaboration. 

To address these challenges, P&R needed to galvanize collaboration with partners and distill the collective learning into an evidence base to inform decision-making. The process had to be government-led in each country and informed by learning from across 16 countries. P&R used two mutually reinforcing learning into practice streams: 1) learning to create a conceptual framework for institutionalizing One Health and 2) learning to create a tool for countries to self-assess the organizational capacities and performance of their coordinating mechanism. These streams were supported by external collaboration, applying and adding to the evidence base, reflecting on learning, seeking feedback from practitioners and engaging in transparent and evidence-based decision-making. 

Thanks to CLA practices, we now have an agreed conceptual framework for multisectoral coordinating mechanisms and a tool—the One Health Assessment for Planning and Performance (OH APP)—for countries to self-assess and track the maturation of the coordinating mechanisms and capture their impact on improved outbreak preparedness and response.