About policy dialogues

Model
The policy dialogue model has proven to be particularly useful in times of transition when policy-makers take stock of past achievements and explore strategic options for further health system reform. The Observatory has worked with this model for a number of years on a wide range of topics and with various countries. The feedback from Member States has been very positive.

Question
Typically, the policy dialogue is constructed around a policy question presented by the Member State on which the Observatory, in close collaboration with its international partners, brings together key documents and international experts to present recent evidence, as well as relevant case studies from countries that have faced a similar question.

Participants
The type and mix of participants depends on the topic to be tackled, but in all cases discussions are run with small groups of key decision-makers. The Observatory's role is nonprescriptive: address real policy questions, bring up the existing evidence on alternative options, facilitate discussion on options, but always from a neutral perspective without telling what decision makers should do. The evidence provided is tailored to policy-makers' needs and policy oriented. 

Normally, a policy dialogue is organized with one country, but sometimes multicountry dialogues are organized with different countries that face a similar situation or problem.