Resumen de En busca de los resultados de la cooperación técnica

Lily Jourdan Hidalgo, Juan Manuel Sotelo

• español

  La misión de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) es brindar cooperación técnica a sus Estados Miembros y estimular ese tipo de cooperación entre ellos para que la población de las Américas conserve un ambiente saludable mientras avanza hacia el desarrollo humano sostenible y alcanza la meta de salud para todos y por todos . Se entiende por cooperación técnica aquel proceso mediante el cual los Estados Miembros cooperan con la Organización, como socios iguales, en la definición y logro de sus propias metas de salud y en la promoción de la autosuficiencia en el desarrollo de la salud, por medio de programas que respondan a sus necesidades y prioridades nacionales. De acuerdo con esa definición y en la búsqueda permanente de la transparencia, responsabilidad y participación en la actividad institucional, la OPS creó en 1978 el Sistema de Planificación, Programación, Seguimiento y Evaluación de la Región de las Américas (AMPES) para la cooperación técnica en salud. El sistema establece los procedimientos de gestión y es una herramienta útil y ágil para tomar decisiones gerenciales

• English

  For the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), technical cooperation (TC) is the process by which the PAHO Member States work with the Organization, as equal partners, to identify and reach their own health goals and to promote self-sufficiency in health development, through programs that respond to those countries’ needs and national priorities. Since 1978, PAHO has used the American Regional Planning, Programming, Monitoring, and Evaluation System (AMPES) to establish management procedures and to facilitate decision-making in health TC. As part of AMPES, PAHO uses a “logical approach to project management” to structure the work program of the Organization and to identify the expected results from TC activities and TC resource investments. This project management approach, which replaces the “functional approaches” system used to date, also helps establish a causative relationship between the programmed activities and the results that PAHO expects, and between the activities and the hoped-for outcomes in the countries.

  As part of an ongoing process of rethinking international health TC, several years ago PAHO began a four-phase study on the usefulness and validity of functional approaches and on the need to propose new ones or to modify existing ones. The results of the initial phase showed it was difficult to classify the activities because the functionalapproaches categories were not mutually exclusive and the TC activities were complex. Further, the expected results did not specify the product for which the PAHO Secretariat was accountable within a certain time frame nor the Secretariat’s level of responsibility. Thus, a new and more flexible classification of expected results was proposed, with the following categories: cooperation networks and alliances; surveillance and information systems; standards and guidelines; research and evaluation studies; plans, projects, and policies; methods, models, and technologies; training programs; promotional campaigns and advocacy; and direct support. In the second phase of the study, it was concluded that the proposed classification system made it possible to more precisely identify the products of PAHO technical cooperation projects, the Organization’s degree of responsibility, and the bases for estimating needed resources. The new system could also facilitate monitoring and evaluation. In addition, the third phase of analyzing the functional approaches has begun. Its objective is to evaluate the effect of technical cooperation based on the changes incorporated in the programming of activities.