Health care

Making health care better and accessible

Health care for all

Health is one of the basic human rights and a pre-condition for economic and social development. Yet for 70% of the world’s population, health care is too expensive, too far away or too inadequate. Our work in post-disaster and conflict-affected countries, contributes to better accessible, higher quality and more affordable health care for all.

What we do

Universal Health Coverage

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) aims to ensure that everyone receives the quality services they need, and is protected from health threats without suffering financial hardship. It’s a way of reducing poverty and increasing health security, so that no-one is left behind. Cordaid contributes to UHC by improving the quality of and access to health care systems in some of the world’s most fragile countries. Countries like the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan. We do this in close cooperation with local health care providers, national authorities and international stakeholders.

Read more in our brochure ‘Universal Health Coverage‘
- English brochure
- French brochure
Have a look at our campaign #HealthForAll.

To contribute to UHC, we focus our activities on the following thematic expertise areas:

1. Health System Strengthening through RBF

What is RBF? Result Based Financing (RBF) is our guiding approach to strengthening health systems. We achieve this by linking payments directly to performance: health care providers receive their payments only after their output has been verified. But RBF is more than a change in the way health care providers are paid. It is a health system reform strategy that introduces checks and balances, motivates staff, and involves private parties as well as communities.

Read more in our brochure ‘Health System Strengthening through RBF‘
- English brochure
- French brochure
Watch this video on RBF:

Watch this video on RBF in the Central African Republic:

2. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

We empower women, men and young persons to make lifesaving choices related to their own Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). To enable everyone, especially women and young girls, to do this, Cordaid:

provides SRHR services and information regardless of sex, gender, religion and sexual orientation;
provides quality SRHR services with the right information to fight misconceptions and taboos;
promotes youth friendly SRHR services;
creates an enabling environment to reduce barriers to SRHR.

Read more about our Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights services:

Brochure ‘Delivering SRHR services in fragile contexts’
- English brochure
- French brochure
Brochure ‘Working with religious leaders on sexual and reproductive health’ (English)
Brochure ‘Jeune S3, a program for, with and by the young people’
- English brochure
- French brochure
Read more about JeuneS3 on this page.
Watch this video about Jeune S3, a program for, with and by young people:

3. Global Health, Global Access

In June 2017 Cordaid’s two-year advocacy program Global Health, Global Access (GHGA) has started, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The program aims to restore the Dutch commitment to spend 0,7% of Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance, and 0,1% on Global Health. This will be achieved through substantial Dutch support for the Global Financing Facility, which aligns with the Dutch Government’s focus on vulnerable people and communities, such as women and girls. The project is a combination of public awareness and policy influencing actions.

Additionally, we also focus on other health-related areas:

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD)

Changes in demography and disease patterns have led to a fast-growing demand for health services addressing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Cordaid focuses on the prevention and therapy of cervical cancer by embedding early screening and treatment in local health systems, and will attend to other NCDs including chronic illnesses in due time.

Data driven decisions

To further improve the quality and impact of our health programs, Cordaid develops its expertise on data management. Our data driven projects contribute to more transparency and accountability. Data analysis allows us to constantly monitor our projects, allowing for flexibility and a more efficient allocation of resources. We, but also our donors and beneficiaries, are thus able to make better decisions based on data exploitation.

A pregnant woman is getting a check-up in a Cordaid health clinic in Diida Yabello, Ethiopia. Over the last 5 years this clinic has received financial support via the RBF-system, leading to a significant increase in the quality of health care. Image: Petterik Wiggers

4,4 million people provided access to basic health care in 2018
3 million visits have been made to health facilities in 2018
807 health facilities work with Results Based Financing in 2018

Health care Services

Thematic expertise

Cordaid offers specific expertise and knowledge related to its main areas of operation: Health Systems Strengthening / Results Based Financing, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, addressing Non-Communicable Diseases and promoting data driven decision making with a focus on conflict-affected or disaster struck countries.

Technical assistance includes capacity building assistance, providing trainings and workshops, including manuals and training tools, program design, stakeholder analysis, quality control, evaluation and advocacy in aforementioned fields of operation. Technical assistance can be provided tailor-made within Cordaid programs or stand-alone, sourced from Cordaid’s country offices or the head office.
Action research is a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. Cordaid can assist the ‘actor’ – most often Cordaid’s partners and country offices, but also third parties – in improving and/or refining their actions in promoting health service delivery with a keen eye on innovations. Cordaid can conduct research exclusively and/or support partners throughout a research process.
Knowledge sharing & thought leadership: Online sharing of knowledge, documents and tools developed by Cordaid experts. We provide inputs and keynote speakers at global and local conferences in its main fields of operation.

Cordaid also contributes to advocacy which is geared towards influencing policy and practice at various levels, from international fora to local community settings. Advocacy often – and ideally – complements program implementation, e.g. in the Jeune S3 program, but also has its own merit, e.g. in the Strategic Partnership for Lobby & Advocacy called “Dialogue and Dissent” (both these programs are funded by the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation).

Tamara Smits

Interim Director Health care

Program and grant management

Program implementation: Cordaid develops, implements, monitors and evaluates health programs in 13 countries in Africa and Asia with own staff (country office based), and/or in close cooperation with local stakeholders such as local governments, NGO’s, CBOs, health care facilities and communities.
Grant management: Cordaid is an experienced manager of funds from (bilateral, multilateral and other) institutional donors in favor of local governmental and civil society organizations, that aim to contribute to Universal Health Coverage. Cordaid uses its knowledge and competences in countries of operation to improve cost-effective health services delivery.
Capacity building: Cordaid increases the capacity of (mainly) Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the countries in which Cordaid operates. CSOs are capacitated to perform their key roles in providing available, affordable and quality health services more effectively and are better equipped to amplify their voices in policy processes.

Tamara Smits

Interim Director Health care

Investment management

Cordaid supports access to inclusive finance and job creation for women, youth, micro entrepreneurs and Small Medium Enterprises. Furthermore Cordaid offers loans, guarantees and patent capital to financial institutions, funds and businesses that have limited other options.