With funding of USD 3 million over the next three years through the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, the joint ILO-OECD-WHO Working for Health programme is now actively transforming and expanding the health workforce in Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Each county is being supported to develop comprehensive and integrated multisectoral workforce policies, strategies and plans, informed by labour market analysis tools, robust data and evidence. Initial baseline assessment and activity programming work has commenced, including preparatory work for strengthening intersectoral coordination and collaboration mechanisms.
With the support of Working for Health, measurable gains will be made through enhanced intersectoral collaboration and the strengthening of HRH policy, planning and resource mobilization capacity at country level to help drive: the application of evidence-based and data-driven policy and strategy, the utilization of National Health Workforce Accounts, the strengthening of integrated health workforce databases and registries, and the capacity to manage health worker mobility.
Through the application of integrated support each country will be better enabled to advocate for and mobilize additional investment to address their specific health workforce shortages and to create the policy and enabling environment for the creation new health worker jobs.
The Working for Health programme is driving the implementation of the 10 recommendations made by the United Nations Secretary’s High level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, which found that investing in the health workforce creates dividends across employment, gender, health and inclusive economic growth – supporting the achievement of SDGs 3, 4, 5, 8 and 17. It has established a Multi-partner Trust Fund to stimulate multisectoral investment and to guide the creation of 40 million new health jobs and avert a projected shortfall of 18 million health workers, mainly in low- and middle- income countries.
For additional information on to find out how your government or organization can participate in the Working for Health programme, please email the programme at Working4health@who.int.
