30 November 2020 | Informations
STRENGTHENING SYSTEMS AND HEALTH SERVICES
Camille Estevenin is currently Technical Assistance Manager at Solthis, in the Technical Department. This is an opportunity to look back over her career, but also to look at a practice, technical assistance, which is part of Solthis’ DNA.
Could you briefly introduce yourself?
I joined Solthis in 2019, as a trainee in the Operations Department after several experiences in specialised design offices in France and abroad. I was then in charge of supporting project development and seeking institutional funding. I then joined the Technical Department as Technical Assistance Officer.
My studies were already focused on the world of health. After a Master’s Degree in Health Policies, I completed a Specialised Master’s Degree in Public Health and Infectious Diseases at the Institut Pasteur and the CNAM, which convinced me to join the voluntary sector, which focuses on prevention and access to quality care.
What is your involvement today in Solthis?
I am in charge of developing Solthis’ service provision activities, from monitoring to coordination, in our countries of intervention but also on the rest of the African continent. I wanted to work on the strengthening of health systems and services, and the technical assistance provided by Solthis responds to this, be it in terms of mother and child health, youth health, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases.
On the one hand, it is at the country level that needs are defined: it is the governments that request Solthis’ expertise after having collectively identified specific needs according to the target populations. What is also enriching is to be able to capitalise on the experience acquired during each technical assistance to be able to adapt it to other health and socio-political contexts, to understand the key factors of success, etc…
Technical assistance in Solthis, in a nutshell, is …
This is non-financial assistance provided by experts with between 5 and 20 years of national or international experience, to sustainably strengthen health systems in the areas in which Solthis is active or has recognised expertise. In contrast to a multi-year project, technical assistance is provided on a more ad hoc basis, either in person or remotely.
Each assistance is part of a not-for-profit model of solidarity consultancy that allows us to reallocate all the margins generated by technical assistance to our projects. All this is done in a logic of knowledge transfer to our beneficiaries, in line with Solthis’ values: transparency, solidarity, professionalism but also non-substitution.
8 technical assistance projects for the year 2020 are scheduled in 5 African countries, for a total of more than 400 days of consultancy and 14 consultants mobilised by Solthis. In the long term, this already represents more than 15 years of experience in technical assistance, and a network of 400 associated experts. We believe in the strength of the collective, in the value of bringing together civil society actors, researchers and public actors for resilient health systems centred on users and recognising the role of patients and communities in improving the quality of health services.
In Tunisia in 2020, Solthis is committed to mapping people living with HIV with a view to improving the supply and quality of services for patients and their families.
Something that is particularly important for you?
We pay particular attention to gender in the development and implementation of each technical assistance that Solthis implements. This involves ensuring equal participation, the integration of gender issues in the health theme addressed or for the populations concerned. Data collection and indicators must be designed to answer these questions. Similarly, we want to ensure that all diagnoses are participatory and take into account vulnerable populations, such as young girls. Finally, in the field, each team of consultants is equipped and supported by Solthis on gender issues. We want to make sure that everyone can express themselves when speaking out and developing intervention strategies.
Find the presentation of Solthis’ various technical assistance services in our Technical Assistances section, with a focus on :
