The vision for a community of country practitioners working side-by-side to strengthen their health systems and make progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) had its humble roots at a World Health Assembly event in May 2009, when representatives from Ghana, India, Thailand, and Vietnam met to discuss their government-led health financing reform efforts
As part of the JLN@10 celebrations, the Nigeria sub-national JLN Country Core Group (CCG) and the World Bank Nigeria office, in collaboration with the forum of CEOs of State Social Health Insurance Schemes (SSHIS) in Nigeria, hosted a virtual webinar to share and learn from the experience of Nigerian states in implementing health insurance decentralization reforms. The JLN has provided a platform for peer to peer learning amongst policymakers in Nigerian states as they set up their health insurance schemes. Facilitation support for the webinar was provided by the World Bank JLN DRM collaborative technical team. Following opening remarks by the Honourable Minister for State Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, panelists shared their experiences in the operationalization, legislation, and implementation of the SSHIS and in establishing the Health Equity Fund as well as strategic purchasing at the state level. Forty-two participants discussed practitioner learnings from expanding coverage and the role of the SSHIAs in the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund of the National Health Act of 2014.The Nigeria sub-national Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage is a state-to-state network that connects practitioners and policymakers to enable learning exchange and knowledge co-production in support of health care financing reform, both across states and between the state and federal levels.
The JLN’s new Digital Health Collaborative held its first in-person convening in Jakarta, Indonesia, from November 8 through 10, 2023. Member countries of the Digital Health Collaborative are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Senegal. The key objectives of this inaugural convening of the JLN Digital Health Collaborative included;
launching the new Collaborative,scoping and prioritizing the learning agenda with the members of the Collaborative andinitiating knowledge co-production by the Collaborative.
The Collaborative launch was co-located with the Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN) General Meetings to allow JLN participants to join AeHIN General Meetings (from November 6-8, 2023). Twenty-nine (29) representatives from 14 out of 15 Collaborative member countries attended the meetings in person. The Digital Health Collaborative Launch meeting was kick-started by a site visit to the headquarters of Indonesia’s Social Health Insurance Agency, BPJS-Health, on November 8, followed by scoping discussions on November 9 and 10.
On May 27th, the Joint Learning Network (JLN) took centre stage at a special showcase held on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva. Jointly hosted by JLN, UHC Delivery Lab and Amref Health Africa, with the support of UHC2030, the session was a vibrant platform for sharing impactful stories and discussing future collaborations. The event, attended by over 75 participants in person and 24 virtually, brought together policymakers, representatives from civil society organizations, pharmaceutical companies, UHC advocacy organizations, WHO, the Global Fund, Cochrane, and other stakeholders.The focus of the session was on the transformative impact of JLN in countries like Malaysia and Ghana. A representative from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation highlighted the critical value of investing in collaborative platforms like JLN. "South-South collaboration is a powerful tool for driving sustainable health reforms," said Dr. Jean Kagubare, Deputy Director of PHC at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "Our investments show that cross-country learning not only accelerates innovation but also builds stronger, more resilient health systems. The real win is seeing these collaborations translate into tangible improvements in healthcare delivery and outcomes."
The Digital Health Collaborative had its first Authors’ Workshop in Washington, D.C. from June 3-6, 2024. The workshop was attended by representatives from Collaborative member countries and special guests from digital health regional networks and organizations, namely: RECAINSA, AeHIN, Africa CDC, and HELINA. Representatives from Cambodia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, and Tajikistan attended the workshop in person, whereas representatives from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ukraine attended parts of the workshop virtually.As a follow up to the Collaborative’s launch meeting, five workstreams were identified for co-development of knowledge products: 1) A playbook/ how-to guide on all levels of interoperability in health systems, including Health Information Exchange, 2) A how-to toolkit for digital health governance, 3) An annotated inventory of resources, 4) A guide on private sector solutions, and 5) An orientation, evidence, and dialogue toolkit on making the case for digital health. The authors’ workshop focused on the first three workstreams.
Cities in low- and middle-income countries are experiencing significant expansion. The World Bank estimates that India's urban population will increase by 40% by 2036, necessitating an investment of $840 billion in infrastructure over the next five years. Given the urgent challenges related to urban health, how can low- and middle-income countries ensure access to integrated, quality, and affordable health care in line with their goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC)?This webinar, co-hosted by Management Sciences for Health and the Joint Learning Network, will focus on "Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Urban Settings: Incentives, Challenges, and Opportunities." It will address emerging issues in urban health in India, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. The discussion will deliberate on innovative financing strategies for population health in urban areas, approaches to reducing out-of-pocket expenses, and how to leverage development finance to achieve equity and efficiency in healthcare delivery. Participants will also be able to engage in a Q&A session during the latter half of the webinar.
The JLN Primary Healthcare Performance Management Collaborative, facilitated by Aceso Global, held an in-person workshop from July 21–24, 2025, in Istanbul, Turkey. This highly interactive convening brought together member country teams to strengthen skills, co-create practical tools, and advance innovations in PHC performance management.
The workshop centred on two key work-streams:Hard Skills Capacity-Building (Days 1 and 3): Participants worked on finalizing pilot initiatives in Liberia, South Africa, and the Philippines, focusing on practicum development, mini-project preparation, applied computer literacy, drafting terms of reference, contracting trainers, curriculum walkthroughs, and quantitative analysis. The sessions were designed to be hands-on, combining technical content with interactive learning activities to strengthen district-level management capacity.Dashboard Development (Days 2 and 4): Country teams engaged in data visualization exercises, group presentations, and practical discussions on effective dashboard use. Highlights included country updates from Mongolia and Nigeria, a masterclass on dashboard design and impact by expert Katherine Rowell, and a collaborative session supporting Mongolia’s development of a new in-house performance dashboard.The four-day workshop concluded with a planning session to shape the Collaborative’s final outputs, ensuring that lessons, tools, and resources are captured for use across JLN countries.
This gathering not only deepened technical skills but also reinforced the value of peer learning—helping member countries strengthen the foundations of resilient and equitable primary healthcare systems.
Representantes de Marrocos, São Tomé e Príncipe e Senegal, acompanhados por funcionários do Banco Mundial da nos escritórios nacionais , participaram da reunião presencial inaugural da em Washington, DC, EUA, de 26 a 27 de fevereiro de 2024. A reunião contou com a participação de 20 países da África, Ásia, Médio Oriente e América do Sul e foi realizada para facilitar a partilha de experiências e lições aprendidas sobre a resposta às alterações climáticas e a resiliência dos sistemas de saúde. Os principais objetivos da reunião foram iniciar a colaboração, identificar áreas técnicas prioritárias e temas-chave, partilhar esforços, ferramentas e sucessos existentes, compreender e documentar as expectativas para atividades colaborativas e delinear em conjunto potenciais produtos de conhecimento que poderiam ser coproduzidos ao longo do período de colaboração de dois anos. Os participantes identificaram seis linhas de trabalho para foco da colaboração e concordaram em desenvolver em conjunto cinco produtos de conhecimento em 2024-2025, correspondentes às três primeiras linhas de trabalho: 1) Governança, 2) Financiamento e Maximização do Financiamento, 3) Dados e Responsabilidade, 4) Ação Multissetorial, 5) Envolvimento das Comunidades e 6) Modelos de Prestação de Serviços.
The JLN Collaborative on Climate Smart Health Systems will hold its second full-collaborative in-person meeting in Manama, Bahrain, from October 5-9, 2025. At the Second In-Person meeting, members will provide feedback and finalize the knowledge products that have been developed over the previous year (under the three workstreams of Governance, Financing, and Data and Accountability) and identify products for co-production in Year 2 of the collaborative, under the remaining three workstreams of Multisectoral Action, Engaging Communities, and Service Delivery Models.The Governance workstream has developed a Climate and Health Governance Guideline that covers policies, regulations, leadership, and stakeholder coordination. The Financing workstream has drafted two knowledge products: Making the Case for Investment in Climate and Health, which outlines key messages on health impacts and investment benefits, and a Repository on Public Financial Management for Climate and Health that compiles resources for climate-smart health financing. The Data and Accountability workstream has drafted a Data Toolkit on common data integration and visualization challenges, as well as two repositories, with the first focusing on Health Facility Infrastructure and the second focusing on Health Worker Tools.
Discussions focused on identifying the most critical strategic directions for the Network at this juncture, including clarifying what concrete and collective commitments should be undertaken in 2026 to strengthen JLN’s relevance, effectiveness, and country impact. Steering Group and CCG-CoP members engaged in open and constructive dialogue on ways to deepen country engagement and more firmly anchor CCGs within strengthened country-level processes and reforms. Financing, Primary healthcare, Non-communicable diseases, Mental health, Climate resilience, Digital health continued to emerge as critical priorities that need collaborative action and focused initiatives such as the Joint Learning Fund for collective problem solving. As an outcome of these deliberations, Steering Group members articulated a set of action-oriented priorities aimed at strengthening core JLN functions, including governance, strategic positioning, fundraising, and the effective implementation of the Joint Learning Fund embedded within the collaboratives to enable implementation learning approach and implementation research for evidence based programming. These action plans provide clear strategic direction for the Network, with an agreed timeline for implementation by June 2026, ensuring continuity and focus as JLN moves into its next phase.The Network Manager, in close collaboration with the JLN World Bank team, will lead the coordination and implementation of these agreed actions, working closely with Steering Group members and country representatives to ensure alignment with country learning priorities and sustained progress toward JLN’s strategic objectives.
The Joint Learning Network (JLN) Digital Health Collaborative Knowledge Product Showcase Series spotlights practical, country-driven lessons from the JLN’s Digital Health Collaborative. The session presents products that help countries navigate the steep learning curve of digital health and AI by co-producing and sharing guidance on issues prioritized by country policymakers. The upcoming session highlights insights emerging from the collaborative community, including lessons to strengthen governance by blending evidence, tools, and real-world practice through country co-created KPs: Addressing Public Governance Challenges in Digital Health and the Digital Health Companion (DHC), an AI-enabled, retrieval-augmented chatbot with a curated knowledge base developed with country policymakers. The session has three objectives. First, it offers solution-oriented lessons from diverse country experiences on designing and sequencing governance reforms spanning regulatory frameworks, institutional models, sustainable resourcing, and coordination mechanisms suited to centralized and decentralized contexts. Second, it demonstrates how the DHC supports learning through a curated knowledge base that answers context-specific questions. Third, it distills actionable strategies from country experiences that participants can adapt to their own contexts.
This session convenes a focused roundtable discussion on how the Joint Learning Network (JLN) can more effectively bridge knowledge translation and catalytic funding to accelerate health systems reform and innovation in Africa.The session brings together 10–12 donor partner representatives for a strategic dialogue on aligning technical learning, contextualization of global tools and frameworks with financing mechanisms to drive sustainable policy and program change at country level. JLN will be represented by senior policymakers from JLN African member countries, ensuring high-level perspectives grounded in country implementation experience. The discussion will serve as a critical bridge between JLN’s peer-learning and catalytic funding model (the Joint Learning Fund) and the financing architecture needed to translate knowledge into resilient health system transformation across the continent.
