It ended up being a relatively late night on Tuesday, due to a working dinner which came at the end of a full day of discussions on the Global Fund. I say relatively late, as my working day normally begins when I open the DFID office at 7.15, so anything that extends the day beyond 6pm can take its toll. However, on this occasion I cannot complain as the good company of colleagues from the Country Coordination Mechanism and the Global fund, combined with dinner, ensured a pleasant end to the day and allowed me to get to know my colleagues better. One of the great things about working in development is the people you meet from all over the world, their interesting career histories and the wealth of stories of places worked and challenges faced.
Alberto Pasini, who works for the Global Fund and is responsible for the portfolio of grants the Global Fund provides to Mozambique arrived from Geneva on Monday and join the planning meeting of the Country Coordination Mechanism (mentioned in my last blog). Alberto, who also covers Angola, was an extremely useful source of information on Global Fund procedures, and helped increase the CCM members understanding of some of the Fund’s requirements.
Alberto was able to discuss the Mozambique’s current and future grants with Dr Gertrudes Machatine, the Ministry of Health Director of Planning and Cooperation, who is also a member of the CCM. I captured the two of them in conversation outside the meeting room.
The CCM meeting was chaired by Prof. Narciso Matos (who I have mentioned previously), and the dinner was an excellent opportunity for Narciso and Alberto to get to know one another. Given the close working relationship between the Global Fund and the Country Coordination Mechanism, this was time well spent. Alberto and Narciso are pictured here looking relaxed before the dinner.
The CCM meeting concluded this morning, but this is really the starting point for another week of work for the Global Fund team here in Maputo. I will introduce Nathalie Zorzi, another member of the team shortly as we met to discuss the forthcoming annual evaluation of the health sector.
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