The JLN Steering Group Meeting was convened with the objective of building a shared and comprehensive understanding of the Joint Learning Network’s history, evolution, and progress across member countries. The meeting also provided a platform to celebrate 15 years of JLN and reflect on key challenges currently facing the Network and to gather perspectives from Steering Group and Country Core Group–Community of Practice (CCG-CoP) members on priority areas for JLN’s future work.
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.
