New Publication Spotlight: Partnering with African Faith-Based Organizations for a Strong Health Workforce
A new CapacityPlus technical brief brings to light the efforts that African faith-based organizations are making to strengthen their health workforce and integrate into national health systems, with the goal of improving health outcomes.
Faith-based organizations (FBOs) make immense contributions to the health sector in many parts of the world. They own and operate up to 70% of health facilities in some countries, contribute greatly to health worker training, and reach many remote and underserved communities. Yet FBOs are often not integrated into planning and resource allocations for national health systems, leading to service and system redundancies and gaps.
In Partnering with African Faith-Based Organizations for a Strong Health Workforce, authors Doris Mwarey, Craig Hafner, and Theresa Nyamupachitu of IMA World Health present examples from the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform and its members. They highlight achievements, provide lessons learned, and offer seven key recommendations for furthering FBOs’ efforts to strengthen human resources for health (HRH) and integrate FBOs into national health systems and the HRH community.
To learn more, read the new publication, available as a PDF and an interactive online version. And let us know what you think; we welcome your feedback.
Special event on October 27
Leaders, managers, and frontline health workers at FBO facilities confront similar health workforce challenges as do their counterparts in the public sector. They struggle with high vacancy rates, for example, as well as low retention and productivity, inappropriate skills mix, and low motivation. CapacityPlus has engaged the FBO community in many countries to overcome these challenges through strengthened systems. 
Join us for an interactive morning to present and share the role and best practices of FBOs and advance the dialogue for overcoming key challenges to scaling up Africa’s health workforce for better health services and outcomes.
A Strong Health Workforce for Africa: Building Effective Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations will take place on Monday, October 27, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch is included. RSVP.
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Photo by Trevor Snapp, courtesy of IntraHealth International (a health worker provides services at an FBO facility in Kenya)
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