In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda, WHO is committed to supporting countries to exercise effective health systems governance, with a specific focus on strengthening the capacity of governments to formulate and implement policies/strategies that will lead to the realization of UHC by 2030.
In line with the Thirteenth General Programme of Work 2019–2023, WHO works collaboratively across its three organizational levels, adopting a horizontal approach to pursue the following key objectives:
call upon countries to strengthen the governance of their health systems for UHC
provide guidance on ways to enhance health systems governance
support regions and countries in strengthening their health systems governance as needed.
WHO’s work on the health systems governance not only supports countries in advancing the UHC agenda but has an impact on reaching the targets beyond SDG 3. Improvements in health systems governance will support achieving results in both health and non-health-related SDGs, such as ending poverty (SDG 1), achieving gender equality (SDG 5), reducing inequalities (SDG 10), building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions (SDG 16), etc.