REPORT-BACK TO THE HPG BY THE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP (TWG) ON HUMAN RESOURCES FOR HEALTH (HRH) HPG III, 26 NOVEMBER

AGENDA OF THE HRH TWG MEETING  The first meeting of the HRH TWG for 2014 took place yesterday, 25 November, in response to the HPG II in June, which tasked the TWG to convene and follow-up the discussions on HRH.  The agenda covered: o Roles and responsibilities of the different MOH departments working on HRH development: ASTT, DOM o Priority areas in HRH (current challenges) o DP contributions to these different areas o New ways of working to strengthen the functioning of the TWG on HRH 2

PRIORITY AREAS IN HRH (CURRENT CHALLENGES) #1 Challenges, and actions to address them, can be categorized into two main areas: I.Education, training and accreditation (ASTT) II.Human resources management (DoM and MSA) I.EDUCATION, TRAINING AND ACCREDITATION  Undergraduate and post graduate education for different cadres of HRH o Medical education o Nursing education o Education programmes/curricula for other cadres of health workforce  In-service training, including mentorship, monitoring and evaluation  Accreditation of institutions for medical education and CME  Licensing (linked to CME) 3

II.HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT  HRH planning and projections o Designing and regulating the functions and duties of HRH cadres, staffing, organizational structure at the central and local levels o Planning and policy development (including incentives policies) to: address shortage of certain specialists; and attract them to and retain them in certain localities (ensuring availability of HRH in hard- to-reach areas  Legislation and governance  Information systems for HRH (to ensure minimum HRH data) PRIORITY AREAS IN HRH (CURRENT CHALLENGES) #2 4

DP S CURRENTLY SUPPORTING HRH DEVELOPMENT The majority of DPs are supporting education, training and accreditation. A smaller number are supporting human resources management: I.Education, training and accreditation o ADB, AMP, CDC, CHAI, HAIVN, JICA, Pathfinder, WB, WHO. II.Human resources management o ADB, JICA, WB, WHO. Note: this list of DPs is not exhaustive – it only captures those that participated in/whose contributions were discussed during the TWG meeting 5

NEW WAYS OF WORKING  DPS committed to using the TWG as a mechanism for: o Carefully assessing the programmes/strategies are trying to develop against the national HRH policies/strategies/plans. o Better understanding the legal framework and processes related to HRH, and better reflecting on how DP processes aligned to MOH processes and priorities.  The HRH TWG agreed to establish subgroups to work on the two main areas: I.Subgroup 1: Education, training and accreditation II.Subgroup 2: Human resources management 6

NEW WAYS OF WORKING CONT…  The subgroups will meet regularly on a needs basis  The TWG on HRH will then meet on a quarterly basis, two weeks prior to the quarterly HPG meeting  The subgroups will take up the policy issues identified in TWG meetings  Issues raised for follow-up at the next TWG are: o HRH policies, strategies and plans to which DPs can align their support o How the HRH planning/strategy development process must consider the education system and its linkages/interactions with health system structures o The HRH development steering committee (composition, mandate, etc.), and how subgroup focal points can be engaged 7

IMMEDIATE NEXT STEPS  ASTT, DoM, WHO and AMP to work together to draft a process paper to: o Define the process of establishing and convening the two subgroups (including MOH and DP focal points) o Refine and operationalize the Terms of Reference of the HRH TWG  Process paper to be shared among the TWG for comments and finalization by end December  WHO to facilitate the first meeting of both subgroups by end January  HRH meeting to take place 2 weeks before Q1 meeting of the HPG in