The Policy and Governance for Health through the Life Course (PGH) unit is dedicated to enabling countries to develop and implement sound and evidence-informed health policies that are supported by strong governance and cover every stage of people’s lives.

PGH provides technical leadership to strengthen the capability of public health organizations to implement policies and programmes through capacity-building, monitoring performance and analysing trends, providing policy advocacy and support for building political commitment, developing technical tools and guidance, building the evidence base, and offering countries technical assistance adapted to their context.

PGH encompasses the following specific technical areas of work.

• In the area of health policy development and implementation, PGH promotes and facilitates the development of policies that are grounded in evidence, inclusive of civil society and other stakeholders, and coherent with other sectors and government priorities.
• In the area of governance, PGH supports building institutional capacities to increase transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the national health planning process and beyond, ensuring that effective frameworks for accountability exist within the national arena.
• In the area of evidence-informed decision-making, PGH strengthens capacities, facilitates collaboration among researchers, policy-makers and society, and supports institutional arrangements to ensure that the best available evidence is used systematically and transparently to inform decisions across health systems, policies and practices.
• In the area of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and healthy ageing, PGH promotes approaches to health policy planning, development and implementation that consider all stages of the life course.