Message from the Alliance Executive Director
Dear members and partners of the Global Health Workforce Alliance,
As you know 2011 represented an important milestone for us, as it was the fifth year since the launch of the Alliance. With the objectives of reflecting on the first five years of its existence and strengthening its work in the next phase, the Alliance Board commissioned an external evaluation that was concluded last December. The evaluation report was presented to the Alliance Board in a retreat that took place on February 14th and 15th, and whose purpose was to lay the foundations for the development of a new strategy for the years to come.
I am writing this message to share with you some highlights of the discussions at the Board retreat. Following the review of the evaluation report, the Board took cognisance of the areas requiring improvement that were highlighted, but at the same time it took also notice of the several positive areas where the Alliance value added was acknowledged, and the overall assessment that the Alliance had represented good value for money in its first five years.
The Board moved then quickly to discussing the future of the Alliance, and there is a common view that a reasonably successful first phase should not be cause for complacency, and "more of the same" is not enough. Broad areas of agreement included that, while the Alliance functions remain broadly relevant, its business model should change, harnessing more and more the strength of the Alliance members and partners.
The next steps entail that a small group of Board members, under the leadership of the Board Chair, will now develop a Board response to the external evaluation, and a first draft of the new strategy. The Board response to the evaluation will be developed within a few weeks, and it will be made public together with the evaluation report.
The process for developing the new strategy will unfold over the next 2-3 months, and there will be opportunities for members and partners to take part in a participatory process to provide inputs and suggestions into the new strategy (the precise details and timeframe for this will be communicated to you over the coming weeks).
I am confident that as a result of this process the Alliance can emerge with an even stronger resolve and clearer strategic focus. We hope you will be able to take part in this process, and we look forward to continue working with you to ensure that we make steady progress to advocate and catalyze global and country actions to resolve the human resources for health crisis.
Dr Mubashar Sheikh
Executive Director
Global Health Workforce Alliance