With degrees in French and library science, I knew nothing about policy advocacy work for human resources for health (HRH) when I started an internship for IntraHealth International in January. My project entails working with IntraHealth’s Policy Division and expanding the policy advocacy section of CapacityPlus’s HRH Global Resource Center (GRC), and a large component of my work involves interviewing leaders in policy advocacy for a new GRC interview series.
With seven interviews conducted so far, I feel as if I have taken an accelerated course on the topic of policy advocacy, the basic purpose of which is to raise awareness and visibility of an issue in order to accomplish change. For HRH, policy advocacy work strives to achieve the implementation of favorable policies for programs that support health workers on the frontlines. Such policies range from funding to a new law with an intended health impact. The information conveyed in these interviews may seem obvious to those with a background in public health, but the ideas, arguments, and reasoning behind implementing policies to support health workers revealed a brand new perspective to me. Read more »
