Symposium Kicks Off Sunday, November 8 Social Solutions team members will help present research abstracts from USAID’s CIRCLE Project at the upcoming [Sixth Annual Global Symposium on Health Systems Research](https://hsr2020.healthsystemsresearch.org/program) (HSR2020). The Symposium is organized every two years to bring together the global community dedicated to strengthening health systems and building the field of health systems research. USAID’s Coordinating Implementation Research to Communicate Learning and Evidence (CIRCLE) Project supports USAID’s Health Research Program within the Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition. CIRCLE provides support for implementation research, stakeholder engagement, expert mobilization and consultation, strategic planning, and knowledge management and research translation. CIRCLE’s goal is to coordinate and support research-too-use activities to improve health outcomes and increase survival of newborns, children, and women. ## [SIXTH ANNUAL GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM ON HEALTH SYSTEMS RESEARCH](https://healthsystemsglobal.org/global-symposia/hsr2020/) **PHASE ONE: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12** **Thursday, November 12, 2020 @ 1:05-1:50pm GST, UTC+4 ** Lessons on the Effects of the Zika Outbreak on MCH Services: Learning from the Past to Prepare for the Future - (Poster Session under “Engaging Social, Economic and Environmental Forces” Theme) **Speakers:** Cudjoe Bennett, Senior Research and Knowledge Management Advisor, Social Solutions International/USAID GHSI Project Dr. Ana Franca-Koh, Deputy Director/Research Advisor, Social Solutions International/USAID CIRCLE Project USAID’s CIRCLE Project assessed the extent to which the Zika outbreak affected Maternal and Child Health (MCH) service delivery and the resilience of the health system in five affected countries: Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. A mixed methods approach was used to better understand the resilience of each country’s health system to deliver MCH services in response to the outbreak. The case studies assessed aspects of resilience that need to be in place to allow health systems in both the public and private sectors, to adequately respond to emergencies while maintaining core MCH services. The lessons learned and recommendations from this learning assessment are a useful reference for governments, implementers and donors to prepare for and respond to future health outbreaks. **ABSTRACT #2719** The Role of Country Leadership and Stakeholder Networks in Child Health Progress 2000-2015: Country Perspectives from Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda - This poster is not part of a specific poster session, but presenters will be available to answer questions about their poster during the daily working sessions. **Speakers:** Malia Boggs, USAID Rebekah King, Social Solutions International/CIRCLE Project Mary Taylor, Social Solutions International/CIRCLE Project. The objective of this mixed method study was to understand the effectiveness of leadership, organizational networks, and political commitment on child health progress in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda. The study results provide rich information on the drivers of child health, the current state of country leadership and stakeholder networks, ideas for improving country child health outcomes and recommendations for global support. Through deliberate stakeholder engagement activities, informal champions were identified to help advocate for use of study findings in Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda. As countries work towards achieving the SDGs, these findings will inform future investments, policy, and programmatic decisions and enhance stakeholder collaboration. After the initial conference, HSR2020 planners will arrange for a series of fortnightly parallel sessions to promote and facilitate exchange and community building around the symposium sub-themes. This second phase will take place between November 25, 2020 - March 2021, and will feature an oral presentation of the formative work done in preparation of the [10 TIPs on Implementation Research for Decision Makers in Low and Middle-income Countries](https://www.harpnet.org/tips-on-implementation-research/) - a series of briefs designed to provide clear guidance for local health decision makers on how and when to conduct implementation research.

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