ESTHER Ireland is an initiative of the HSE Global Health Programme and was previously part of the European ESTHER Alliance for Global Health Partnerships. Under this initiative, the Global Heath Programme facilitates and supports Irish health services and institutes to develop linkages and twinning partnerships with counterpart institutions in low and middle-income countries.
The partnership approach aims to make a significant contribution to health outcomes in the global south through addressing inequities in access and coverage, while improving quality of services through capacity building and institutional development. Human resource capacity is strengthened through peer-to-peer relationships between personnel working in the partner institutions. Accordingly, ESTHER supported partnerships are “agents of change” in a multiplicity of intervention areas that focus on the creation of sustainable and resilient partnerships with positive changes at all stages of the results continuum. Self-mobilisation and financial leverage are considered key output performance indicators from a quality partnership and are expected to make a contribution to improved health outcomes.