Strong, long-term partnerships with communities are key to the resilience of humanitarian organizations, according to Partners In Health’s Sheila Davis and Dr. Melino Ndayizigiye.
Since its founding in Haiti in 1987, PIH has faced many challenges and global emergencies — including the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the 2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. But the organization’s focus has always been on long-term, community-based health system strengthening, explained Davis, PIH’s CEO.
PIH was able to take the lessons learned from responding to HIV, tuberculosis, and Ebola and apply them to COVID-19. “We knew that there had to be a community-based approach and that you had to also include elements of social support,” said Davis.
In Lesotho, having strong relationships with the Ministry of Health, village chiefs, local groups, and community health workers enabled PIH to more effectively provide front-line services during the pandemic, said Ndayizigiye, who is executive director of PIH in Lesotho.
Humanitarian organizations must address the root causes of diseases and take a holistic approach in order to have a long-term, successful impact, said Ndayizigiye. A health center that, for example, doesn’t have the basic infrastructure such as water or electricity, has no way of successfully treating patients. Having access to unrestricted funding is a central part of this. “Humanitarian organizations and donors need to understand that if they want to make a big impact on human lives, they should be flexible, and make sure that the money is used to build health systems, and address the needs of the communities,” he explained.
Visit the Hilton Humanitarian Prize Laureate series for more perspectives on how organizations can build resilience amid the pressing humanitarian issues of today and the future.
About the author
Naomi Mihara
Naomi Mihara is an Associate Editor for Devex, working on creative and audiovisual projects. She has a background in journalism and international development, having previously served as an assistant correspondent for Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun and as a communications officer for the International Organization for Migration in Southeast Asia. She holds a master’s degree in Multimedia Journalism from Bournemouth University.
