PRPH4 – Hospital Networks and Partnerships Project Phase 4

Strengthening international hospital cooperation to improve the quality, safety and management of hospital care in the target countries

Hospital Networks and Partnerships Project, a key instrument for cooperation, development and influence

An integral part of France’s Global Health Strategy 2023-2027, the PRPH4 project aims to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of hospital care by providing financial support to hospital partnerships and networks. The objective is to promote the exchange of good practices on governance and quality healthcare services.

It is based on three lines of action.

1. Strengthen international hospital partnerships

PRPH4 finances hospital partnership projects defined jointly between one or several French health establishments and one or several foreign health establishments. They will be selected through a call for projects which will be published on 3 June 2024. These activities are conducted alongside the Call for Projects for International Hospital Cooperation (APCHI) launched by the General Directorate for Healthcare Provision (DGOS) at the French Ministry of Health. These partnerships enable health establishments and professionals to promote their expertise, contribute to a collective and multidisciplinary dynamic for creating added value, and question professional practices and global health issues.

2. Strengthen international hospital cooperation networks 

PRPH4 will contribute to strengthening international cooperation networks, including the Network of Hospitals in Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean (RESHAOC). The objective of this network is to facilitate experience sharing between hospitals, promote exchanges, with a view to establishing real technical and scientific partnerships between member hospitals and also with external partners, and promote South/North and South/South hospital cooperation.   

Special attention will be paid to projects for partnerships between French health establishments and foreign health establishments that are members of RESHAOC, or located in a country where RESHAOC operates.

3. Promote and develop regional hospital cooperation

The activities implemented by PRPH4 will promote and enhance knowledge about international hospital cooperation, as well as hospital partnerships and networks.

Annual international hospital cooperation days will be organised in 2025 and 2026.

Monitoring-evaluation, accountability and learning, and gender mainstreaming central to the action of PRPH4

A framework for monitoring-evaluation, accountability and learning, and gender mainstreaming has been defined to guide all the stakeholders at all stages of the project.

An assistance mechanism for the direct beneficiaries will also be developed, working closely with experts in project management, gender, and capitalisation. The objective is to strengthen the skills of the direct beneficiaries in these three areas throughout the project. This mechanism will comprise:

1. Handbooks on the logical framework, gender mainstreaming and capitalisation.
2. Training sessions on project management, gender and capitalisation.
3. Customised support for monitoring-evaluation, accountability and learning for the direct beneficiaries, from the design to the completion of their project.
4. Assistance in capitalisation for the beneficiaries, selected on a sample basis.

History of the Hospital Networks and Partnerships Project

In 2009, the Hospital Partnerships Fund (FPH) was transferred to Agence Française de Développement (AFD) by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to form the   Hospital Networks and Partnerships Project (PRPH), which contributes to financing international hospital cooperation. In 2012, AFD signed a financing agreement with the French Hospital Federation which was given a mandate to manage two phases of PRPH.

Between 2009 and 2024, PRPH financed more than 60 projects for hospital partnerships and networks in low- and middle-income countries, as well as international hospital cooperation events.

Since February 2024, Expertise France has been the contracting authority for phase 4 of PRPH, working closely with the contracting authority for the previous phases in order to ensure the continuity of the project.

French Hospital Federation: A key partnership for the continuity of PRPH

The French Hospital Federation gathers public hospital and medico-social establishments in this association with 4,800 members, grouped into 20 federations and employing nearly one million professionals.

The action of the French Hospital Federation is based on three main principles:

1. Defend public hospital and medico-social establishments and put forward proposals to public decision-makers.
2. Coordinate and mobilise the health and medico-social ecosystem at all levels.
3. Promote and enhance the action of public hospital and medico-social establishments, their staff, and health and medico-social innovations.

This key partnership will facilitate the operations of French health establishments in the context of PRPH4, and contribute to the design and implementation of a project closely geared towards the needs of hospitals, in the continuity of the previous phases of PRPH.