MC and Global Health—3

World Health Assembly—Health Governance

WHO World Health Assembly, United Nations Geneva

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How does global health governance work?

How can it apply to good governance
in mission/aid and member care? 

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Last month we were at the 65th World Health Assembly (WHA), the large annual event organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the many highlights was the side-event on 23 May on Democratising Global Health Governance. Attended by nearly 100 people, this event primarily brought NGOs together to discuss the major structural and managerial reform process being undertaken by WHO. Many issues were raised by the panel of six speakers—three from NGOs, two from national health ministries (Kenya and Germany) and one from the WHO Secretariat. Some of the concerns raised by the NGO reps included not being informed about the overall philosophy that were guiding the reforms; the possibility of business, industry, and other special interests inappropriately influencing WHO priorities, primarily through their financial contributions (only 20% of the budget comes from member states); and the need for an increasing role for civil society in giving input, supporting, and monitoring  the work of the WHO Secretariat and member states (countries).

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One of the main groups organizing this side-event was a new coalition of organizations called Democratising Global Health (DGH). For more information about this organization, click here. To review some of the affirmations and concerns about WHO governance by one of the organizations that is part of DGH, Peoples Health Movement (PHM), click here. See also PHMs 2009 The Peoples Charter for Health. For even more information, see the Global Health Watch site including their alternative global health reports.

The presentations and exchanges by these high-level representatives were amicable and engaging, There is just so much to learn as we cross sectors for mutual learning and resources and as we try to understand how our work fits into the bigger issues of our globalizing world. Two crucial take aways for me from this WHA event in relation to good governance for mission/aid and member care are:

1)      who in the mission/aid community, or external to it, functions as  the equivalent of the DHG,  with the skills and conviction along with a  recognized platform for giving input, supporting, and monitoring the Evangelical mission/aid community, including the Evangelical member care community, for accountability and effectiveness in relationship to its values, practices, and priorities?

2)      what happens to movements, umbrella organizations, and networks when their leaders and members become out of touch with dissenting opinions and concerns—internal and external—and a thinly veiled authoritarian structure and inordinate sense of importance slowly takes the place of a more open, consensual, democratic ethos, ultimately with leaders becoming a law unto themselves, serving for over-extended periods with impunity and sadly supporting such aberrant practices by manipulative spiritual rationales and self-vindicating assertions of acting virtuously?

Note: The above organizations are in many ways very pro WHO and are committed to see its core values and crucial role in global health realized. The same is true for us regarding the mission/aid and member care community—we too are very pro in our commitment to its health, core values, and crucial roles. .

Reflection and Discussion
**Describe a few applications for MC based on the items/commentary above.

Global MC—Pearl Seven

Supporting Good Governance
and Good Management

Read it. Discuss it. Apply it.

We are exploring member care by using brief quotes from the book, Global Member Care: The Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (published February 2011). Drawing on the metaphor from Rev. 21:21, each quote is like a huge pearl--a pearl gateway--that allows us to enter more fully into the global field of member care. This seventh entry is from Part Two in the book, “Promoting Health in Mission/Aid.” https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/

Pearl Seven

“Keep in mind that any guidelines are only as helpful as the skill levels of the managers who use them. I also note, sadly, that when guidelines are bypassed or inadequate, we may tend to make them up to our own advantage rather than with impartiality and in the best interests of everyone in mind. As one colleague has shared with me, somewhat skeptically, “Poor organizational management is all about the other “golden rule” in which the person with the most gold, rules.” ” (page 117)

“I really appreciate a Middle-Eastern proverb which says. “The greatest crime in the desert is to find water, and remain silent.” I would like to suggest a rejoinder to this proverb: “The second greatest crime in the desert is to find poisoned water and remain silent” (see also Prov. 25:26). Sometimes mission/aid workers at all levels of organiza¬tions can get into trouble by blowing a whistle and confronting the poisoned water of dysfunction. This is not easy to do as we have said repeatedly. Neither is it easy to do well, nor to do well by oneself. It is often scary, risky and easy to make mistakes in spite of good intentions. There is often a high cost to pay when advocating for personal and organizational health, People need integrity and skill (Ps. 78:72) to consistently and resolutely act with moral courage both publicly and privately.” (page 135)

Reflection and Discussion

**Recall one aspect of your life/work that relates to the quote above.

**Have a go at connecting the above quote with a current international area that interests/concerns you.

Member Care and Lausanne 3: Blog Two

Mixed Blessings:

Healthy/Unhealthy Organizations in Mission/Aid

The Lausanne 3 Conference brought together some 4000 people this past October in South Africa. Here are excerpts from one of the seven MCA blogs at the Global Conversation portal at Lausanne 3.

The main question of this blog: Do we and our organizations
have the necessary capacity/safeguards in place to promote health?
Yes, No, or Probably?!

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Virtue does not have to be so painful, if it is sensibly organized.

Charles Handy, Understanding Voluntary Organizations

How healthy is your church, mission, NGO, etc? Here are five brief quotes about organizational life to help explore this question. Remember: in mission as in life, we reproduce who we are.

These quotes are taken from a special training day on Organizations and Member Care at Fuller School of Psychology—The audio video and written materials are available for free via this link: http://sites.google.com/site/membercaravan/caravan-groups/training-day-19-06-10

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Quote One: Health Checklist--Signs of Organizational Health, Kelly O'Donnell (2008)

 http://coremembercare.blogspot.com/2008/11/member-care-and-organisational-health.html

What are some of the core characteristics that would make you want to be part of a team, department, or organization? Here are some items to consider. What else would you add? Everyone loves to work in settings like these, but remember, like healthy families, they take a lot of work to develop and maintain!

• Mutual respect among staff

• Fair pay/compensation and fair play especially in light of power differentials

• Opportunities to make contributions

• Opportunities for advancement and personal growth

• Sense of purpose and meaning

• Management with competence and integrity, including sharing • information

• Safeguards to protect individuals (staff and customers) from injustice

• Responsibility for actions: owning mistakes, not blaming others or covering up

• Honesty in communication and public disclosures: not slanting the truth or exaggerating

• Accountability for personal/work life: seeking out feedback and ways to improve, not ignoring or pretending

• Others:"

Quote Two: Organizational Culture--Stress and Trauma Handbook: Strategies for Flourishing in Demanding Environments, John Fawcett, (2003, World Vision)

“…the most stressful events in humanitarian work have to do with the organisational culture, management style and operational objectives of an NGO or agency rather than external security risks or poor environmental factors. Aid workers, basically, have a pretty shrewd idea what they are getting into when they enter this career, and dirty clothes, gunshots at night and lack of electricity do not surprise them. Intra-and inter-agency politics, inconsistent management styles, lack of team work and unclear or conflicting organizational objectives, however, combine to create a background of chronic stress and pressure that over time wears people down and can lead to burnout and even physical collapse.” (p. 6)

Quote Three: Seven Strengths for Faith-based Organizations--Governance Matters: Balancing Client and Staff Fulfillment in Faith-based, Not-for Profit Organizations, Stehle and Loughlin, (2003) (Note: Reframed positively from the authors’ list of “Seven Deadly Sins”)

• Competent leadership/management (structure, authority, decisions, evaluation etc.)

• Supportive leadership and management

• Clear strategic direction

• Clear roles and responsibilities

• Clear expectations

• Good fit for staff including ongoing training

• Forgiveness is not confused with accountability (pp. 31-34)

Quote Four: Organizational Politics--Understanding Voluntary Organizations, Charles Handy, (1988)

“Because power is a forbidden topic in organizations, and particularly in volunteer organizations, there is seldom any proper discussion of two key aspects of organizational life: the place of competition and/or conflict and the role or meaning of democracy in work. If they are talked about at all it is under the heading of organization politics, and in this context ‘politics’ is assumed to be bad. Such myopia is misguided. Organizations are communities, societies in their own right. They cannot avoid the questions [concerning power/control] which beset all societies.…To push these issues under the table is not to solve them; to brandish grandiloquent slogans –‘we are all one family’ or conflict has no place’—only outlaws discussion of the topic without adding to an understanding of it. If organizations [such as our mission and member care organizations] are going to be effective social institutions, they need to grapple with these issues, which are not going to disappear as long as human beings live and work together.” (pp. 75-76)

Quote Five: 12 Key Items Related to Staff Satisfaction, Longevity, Productivity--First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Buckingham and Coffman, (1999)(See the book summary at
 http://www.bizsum.com/articles/art_first-break-all-the-rules.php)

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?

2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?

3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?

4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?

5. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?

6 Is there someone at work who encourages my development?

7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?

8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?

9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?

10. Do I have a best friend at work?

11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?

12. This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?

Reflection and Discussion
1. How does the "Probably" video clip relate to your life and work?

2. Which "mixed blessings" do you see present in your organization or setting regarding member care?

3. What items in this entry can be helpful for you to discuss in yourorganization/setting?