Interview Jean-François Arditi

What are the strengths of ENSP in the area of cooperation?

First of all, about 90% of the school’s operations in this area are concerned with training management. The idea is to help local authorities to set up processes using local resources. To this end, all of our programmes include a train-the-trainer component. Over the past ten years or so our policy has been to operate in country rather than receiving foreign students, though that aspect of our cooperation activities still exists. To deliver this approach, we have set up a Directorate for International Affairs, which has 13 full-time staff and draws on ENSP academics and external contributors. Our second strength - an outgrowth of the first - is mentoring. If a project involves ten French experts, then there will also be ten local experts involved - and this for the entire duration of the project.
In terms of areas of intervention, ENSP has demonstrable expertise in three main areas: the development and implementation of social and health policies, the management of the relevant institutions and environmental health.

Can you give some examples of this approach?

Let me give you a couple of examples which provide a good idea of what we do and how we approach cooperation. First of all our work with Chile. At the request of the Chilean health minister, we have just finished setting up a training programme for hospital managers, supported by various universities and involving a system of accreditation. From now on the course will be compulsory for future hospital directors.
The programme is soon to be extended to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and, true to the mentoring philosophy, this process will be coordinated by Chile and France.
Another example is Lithuania. In that country we have set up a Masters course in change management for health institutions, backed by European financing. ENSP was also involved in training trainers to teach the course, which is fully compliant with European norms and now operates independently.

What are your expectations of GIP SPSI?

Above all, the pooling of information and resources. I also feel that the GIP should be a receptacle for ideas for new projects. And its other main function is to promote French expertise and brand image in the area of cooperation.
Give the two main trends that we are witnessing today, the importance of the GIP seems self-evident to me. On the one hand, we’re seeing greater emphasis on a regional approach, with projects focusing on whole sub-regions rather than single countries. The other significant development is the expansion of mentoring programmes – which is about leveraging local resources rather than displacing them.