Strong network to bring people from different disciplines on one table to pursue a common goal

Chevening is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will engage ...

Referencing the World Health Organization's definition of health that it is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity and my experience in public health, I am convinced that the social determinants of health cannot be addressed by medical interventions alone as they are shaped by the different social and economic policies that the health sector has no control of. It is from this conviction that I realized the importance of multi and interdisciplinary approaches in public health interventions. However without strong networks, it is not possible to bring people from different disciplines on one table to pursue a common goal that might not be their key result area.

Working for the Ministry of Health, where every programme is donor funded and the Ministry does not have enough funds to finance all its activities, I realized that creating strong networks is what will help push my work. A clear example where networking has helped is when I created a technical working group (TWG) for operations research for the male circumcision programme. The concept of male circumcision for HIV prevention is fairly new to the majority of the citizens and the programme has very steep targets to meet if the impact of the programme is to be seen in reducing new HIV infections. These two aspects of the programme have necessitated routine operations research to inform on the strategies that could be used to increase acceptability of the programme. Unfortunately the Ministry does not a have budget for such research. So I decided to capitalize on my working relationships with the different implementing partners as well as Sexual Reproductive Health Research organizations that have the fuds and capacity to conduct these studies. Through this TWG, all these partners including the National AIDS Council attend and we have come up with research priorities for the programme so that these organizations can incorporate in their research work and the ministry provides other technical support. This is working well and partners are conducting the studies in collaboration with the Ministry.

However even though this network of organizations has helped me to meet some of my deliverables in the Ministry there is still a gap in transcending disciplinary boundaries and start working with people in different sectors outside the health sector in health research and designing different disease prevention intervention programmes. I believe the networks that I will form with the Chevening Alumni will help me bridge this gap and bring together a multidisciplinary research committee that will look into how their different areas of expertise can help move the agenda to eradicate HIV by 2030 and extend to other health issues as well.

I'm applying for the Chevening this year too. I think your essay is clear overall. My suggestion is adding some more detail about your own networking skills, rather than giving too much detail about the project. Few technical errors I found are:

Unfortunately the Ministry does not a have budget
... that have the fun ds
Would appreciate if you would review my leadership essay too,

Gera, the essay is not asking you to present an idea as to the kind of network that you want to create in the future for a specific type of project that you have in mind. You are to discuss a past networking experience or explain how you developed your professional network in relation to your professional or civic duties. This essay is more of a network project proposal if you ask me. So it can't be used to respond to the prompt. It would be in your best interest to simply develop a new essay that will better respond to the prompt. There is nothing in this essay that you can use to develop the new essay so you will need to brainstorm a new response as well.

@mgl23 thanks for your feedback,

@Holt thank you for your feedback i will re write the essay and try to respond to the prompt

may you also review this essay on leadership
The determination to achieve has always made me see problems as challenges that need to be solved and not avoided. In my quest to achieve, people see a role model and get courage to emulate the same. I have been a leader from a young age when I was chosen to be a prefect at the age of 10, a head girl both in primary and secondary school, class representative both at bachelors and graduate level and team leader, coordinator and manager in my profession.

The best moment that exhibited my leadership and influencing skills was during the 2014 Ebola Outbreak when I was working for the International rescue committee (IRC) in Liberia Lofa County. The reaction of most expatriates was to evacuate but I reacted to the contrary. I saw an opportunity to be part of history and make a mark in my career. When the most deadly phase of the outbreak came in June 2014, there was no senior public health or medical personnel at the IRC's national office and the country director was out of the country on business. Despite being a junior officer at that time, I quickly stepped up to the occasion and volunteered to attend the national Ebola response task force meeting to ensure that we were part of the response. From the report I wrote from that meeting, funds were availed from the regional office to kick start our response activities. My decision to stay in Liberia in the face of the outbreak challenged the national staff that I was working with to join hands in the fight against Ebola at a time when they were considering leave of absence. I was promoted to be the Health programmes manager for the IRC in Lofa County where the organization was the biggest partner to the Ministry of Health implementing the results based financing project in 42 out of 59 health facilities and more than 96 villages.

I leveraged on my team's potential and made them leaders in their areas of expertise. Each member of my team became the organization's representative in the different Ebola response sub-task forces as well as ensuring that the respective facilities they supervised were fully functional and equipped to serve people even in the wake of the outbreak. Through these efforts and in partnership with other partners, Lofa was the first county to eradicate Ebola and became a model for Ebola response in the county and other IRC offices in West Africa. From this experience I realized that good leadership means motivating, inspiring and empowering everyone around you to take responsibility and use the best of their skills to achieve a common goal. I would like to embed these 3 tenants of leadership in my career to influence better public health interventions and policies through use of evidence to motivate and inspire managers to try new interventions and be innovative; empower policy maker to make healthy and effective policies and empower the communities to take control of the social determinants of their health.