Somalia has directed all international health partners to align their programmes with the  government's health agenda, saying national leadership and coordinated planning in the sector are essential to the country’s recovery, Health Minister Ali Hajji Adam said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Doha Forum, Adam said Somalia’s journey from prolonged fragility had shown that “resiliency begins with sovereign leadership of our health agenda.” He said the government’s approach “is built on top of this institutionalized in-country coordination.”

The minister said Somalia has established the Somalia Health Sector Coordination Committee, describing it as “the mandatory decision making body where all external partners, UN agencies, international NGOs [and] bilateral donors align their health program with our national transformation plan and our Health Sector Strategic Plan.”