2nd Regional Conference of the Africa Health Workforce Observatory 6-9 October 2009, Marina Hotel, Cotonou, Benin
Conference Background Paper: Background, objectives, expected results and provisional programme [pdf 199kb]
The Division of Health Systems and Services Development of WHO/AFRO in collaboration with the European Union and Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) are planning to hold the mentioned meeting at Marina Hotel in Cotonou, Benin from 06-09 October 2009. About 90 participants from thirty seven African countries, health training institutions and interested partners are expected to attend this meeting.
Most African countries (36 out of 46) face a shortage of health professionals in their health systems and most HRH departments in ministries of health do not have the capacity to carry out their strategic functions. This makes stewardship and leadership on workforce weak as these issues are complex and go beyond the health sector. The existing HRH information and research evidence show problems of inadequacy, inconsistency, duplication and poor linkages in the available data as well as insufficient systems to process and manage the information easily access for decision making. Setting up mechanisms to generate, process and manage data is one of the main challenges that require urgent and innovative synergized actions.
In July 2005, a regional consultation with stakeholders and partners was held to discuss moving the HRH agenda forward in Africa. One of the main recommendations was to establish a regional health workforce observatory. WHO/AFRO was requested to host the regional observatory which has been functional since 2006. The Observatory is considered as a network of national observatories, partners and stakeholders to support HRH actions and initiatives through the promotion, development and maintenance of a reliable base of knowledge and information on human resources for health in the region. At country level, the observatory is considered as a resource for production of HRH information, sharing and promoting the use of information and evidence to support the development and implementation of policies, strategic plans for HRH.
In September 2006, the first meeting of the regional observatory was held in Arusha, Tanzania jointly organized by World Health Organization, Capacity-Project, World Bank and East Central and South of African Health Community (ECSA-HC). This meeting focused on the mechanisms to establish and function the observatories with participants from 14 African countries.
The second meeting of the Health Workforce Observatory is planned on 6 - 9 October 2009 in Cotonou, Benin, supported by EC funding and a contribution from the Global Health Workforce Alliance. The overall aim of the meeting is to further mobilize national, regional and global stakeholders and partners on the Africa HW observatory in order to accelerate its expansion.
Objectives of the Conference of AHWO
The Conference seeks to achieve three specific objectives:
- To explore ways of strengthening the observatory and accelerating the establishment of national ones;
- To review the progress made and share experiences from countries in generating HRH evidence for policy planning and implementation;
- To mobilize partners and countries to further strengthen the Observatory at both regional and national levels.
