Global Health Workforce Alliance

Global Health Workforce Alliance
Name	Global Health Workforce Alliance
Type	Global health partnership
Founded	2006
Dissolved	2013
Headquarters	Geneva
Parent organization	World Health Organization
Region served	Global

Global Health Workforce Alliance. The Global Health Workforce Alliance was a partnership launched to address shortages in health workforce and to coordinate responses among United Nations agencies, World Health Organization, World Bank, African Union, and other stakeholders. It engaged with national Ministry of Health counterparts in countries such as Ethiopia, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Pakistan to implement policies aligned with the 2006 World Health Report, the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, and the 2008 Kampala declaration.

History and Formation

The Alliance was established in 2006 following consultations involving World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to respond to workforce crises highlighted by the 2006 World Health Report and the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Early formation involved technical inputs from Harvard School of Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Makerere University, and policy dialogue with GAVI Alliance and Médecins Sans Frontières to align investments with national strategies such as those in Rwanda and Mozambique.

Mandate and Objectives

The Alliance’s mandate encompassed advocacy, policy guidance, and coordination among World Health Organization Member States, bilateral donors like United States Agency for International Development, multilateral lenders such as the World Bank, and civil society organizations including International Council of Nurses and Public Services International. Objectives included supporting implementation of national human resources for health plans, catalyzing investments from stakeholders like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Gates Foundation, and promoting adherence to international instruments including the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and commitments from the 2008 High-Level Forum on Health MDGs.

Governance and Organizational Structure

Governance arrangements included a board with representatives from World Health Organization, World Bank, UNICEF, International Labour Organization, and donor governments such as United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, and Canada. Technical advisory groups drew experts from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Columbia University, University of Cape Town, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and professional bodies like the Royal College of Physicians and the American Nurses Association. Secretariat functions were hosted by World Health Organization offices in Geneva, with country focal points liaising with national entities such as Kenya Ministry of Health and provincial health departments in India.

Key Initiatives and Programs

Major initiatives included the High-Level Forum-linked Country Coordination and Facilitation processes, the Global Health Workforce Alliance’s Knowledge Centre resources developed with World Health Organization technical teams, and the promotion of national human resources for health strategies in partnership with African Union and European Commission programs. Programmatic work supported pre-service and in-service training collaborations with institutions like Case Western Reserve University, Makerere University School of Public Health, and University of São Paulo, while pilot projects targeted task-shifting approaches informed by research from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University of Toronto. The Alliance convened the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health and helped produce the 2010 Global Health Workforce Alliance and WHO report that guided country-level implementation in nations such as Malawi and Bangladesh.

Partnerships and Funding

The Alliance operated through partnerships with multilateral actors including World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA, and World Bank, bilateral donors like Sweden and United States Agency for International Development, philanthropic partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and corporate supporters, and implementation partners such as Médecins Sans Frontières, Partners In Health, and Save the Children. Funding streams combined core support from World Health Organization budget lines, project grants from donors such as Norad and DFID, and in-kind contributions from academic partners like Karolinska Institutet and University of Oxford.

Impact, Criticism, and Legacy

The Alliance contributed to mainstreaming human resources for health on international agendas, influencing policy instruments such as the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and catalyzing national workforce strategies in Sierra Leone, Haiti, and Liberia. Criticism focused on dependence on donor funding modalities and challenges coordinating among agencies including World Health Organization and World Bank, and on evaluation gaps noted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Its legacy persisted through successor initiatives within World Health Organization programs, country-level human resources for health units, and continuing collaborations among actors like Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GAVI Alliance, African Union, and UNICEF to address workforce shortages.

Category:Global health organizations