This research assignment sought to examine the effect of donor funding modalities on health
service provision and access in Zimbabwe. The specific objectives were to understand the effects
of donor funding on maternal, newborn and child health; to examine the factors that influence the
effectiveness of the Health Transition Fund on maternal, newborn and child health; and to analyse
the challenges faced by the Health Transition Fund in financing maternal, newborn and child
health. The research methodology used entailed interviewing various experts in the fields of
health financing and maternal, newborn and child health, using a literature survey as well as
observation. The conceptual framework used the basket fund model to help navigate the
structures and processes of the Health Transition Fund. In terms of findings, consistent with the
literature, most of the interviewees agreed that the Health Transition Fund has a significant impact
on the health sector in general and on maternal, newborn and child health in particular. However,
it was felt by health experts that the mortality levels remained unexceptionally high as a result of
macro-economic instability, despite the huge investments in health. Nevertheless, this does not
undermine the lessons and advantages of the basket fund model under the Health Transition
Fund between 2011 and 2015, which has seen more donors who had continued to run their own
autonomous programmes now being drafted into the new multi-donor pool of funds from 2016 –
2020, known as the Health Development Fund. The centrality of human resources retention and
motivation has been embedded through a results-based facility scheme, in which staff gets an
extra allowance on their salary. The Health Development Funds’ ability to remove user fees has
increased access to health services in general for maternal and lactating mothers and under-five
children. The research uncovered discrepancies in the application of the policy of user fees, which
made the case for a much broader investment in the health sector to include issues such as
reproductive health and nutrition. Further research is needed in light of deepening economic and
political challenges in Zimbabwe. There is also need to research further the relationship between
the Health Transition Fund as managed by United Nations Children's Emergency Fund and other
interventions as managed by United Nations Population Fund to comparatively understand the
merits of the health financing initiatives.