Professionalising Health Management in Africa was a three-year subgrant (2019–2022) under UNICEF, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The programme supported UNICEF's East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) through its District Health Systems Strengthening initiative (DHSSi).
FPD worked with UNICEF ESARO and local institutional partners to develop and professionalise district healthcare management. The objective was to improve district health governance and management performance in targeted districts across Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.
Building on this regional partnership, FPD expanded its work to additional countries, new areas of technical support and training, and additional language offerings.
Effective healthcare systems require more than clinical expertise. Strong management and leadership are essential to ensure that health services are planned, coordinated, resourced and delivered effectively.
Strengthening management structures, coordination and accountability across district health systems.
Supporting evidence-based planning so that decisions are informed by service delivery data and identified needs.
Building the leadership, facilitation and management competencies of healthcare managers.
FPD's technical approach to Professionalising Healthcare Management is built around three complementary areas of expertise. Select a focus area to explore the work.
Supporting the design, development and quality assurance of healthcare management education and training.
Providing technical advice and support to strengthen the recognition, development and professionalisation of healthcare management.
Hosting and facilitating opportunities for countries, institutions and health system partners to share knowledge and practical experience.
Building on the original UNICEF ESARO partnership, FPD expanded its collaboration to support additional country offices, new programme areas and different approaches to health systems strengthening.
Supporting health management professionalisation through curriculum mapping, competency frameworks, policy development and Ministry-led coordination.
Supporting the Staff Development Institute and Ministry of Health to strengthen district health management training and develop e-learning modules.
Supporting leadership and management capacity development, curriculum mapping, training material development and capacity building for district and facility managers.
Supporting the review and updating of the health service management manual for subnational levels.
Supporting evidence-based planning, district health planning, management soft skills and adaptation of Reach Every District guidelines.
Developing Portuguese-language learning resources, management soft skills courses, facilitation materials and contextualised evidence-based planning tools.
Supporting the contextualisation of Evidence-Based Planning and the development of national training capacity.
Examples of work delivered with country partners during the programme included:
Development of an online learning programme on Evidence-Based Planning using the Bottleneck Analysis (EBP/BNA) approach, alongside an updated training toolkit in English and Portuguese.
Mapping, updating and developing healthcare management curricula and training materials with Ministries of Health and national institutional partners.
Developing management soft skills, facilitation skills and training-of-trainers capacity for district and facility-level healthcare managers.
Supporting the conversion of training materials into accessible online learning modules and blended training programmes.
Supporting the development of health management competency frameworks, harmonised curricula and institutional policy approaches.
Facilitating workshops, consensus-building sessions and collaboration between government, academic and implementing partners.
Selected historical achievements reported in FPD's 2022/23 Integrated Annual Report demonstrate the programme's contribution to healthcare management capacity development.
In partnership with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, work included the establishment of a Ministry-led Technical Working Group on Health Care Management.
FPD worked with the Staff Development Institute and Ministry of Health to revise and update healthcare management modules for e-learning as part of the national blended training programme.
In partnership with the Ministry of Health, PORALG, ENTAF and UNICEF, FPD supported the development and piloting of training materials for Council Health Management Teams and Health Facility Management Teams.
In partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Health and UNICEF, FPD supported district health planning and management development.
These are selected historical programme achievements reported in FPD's 2022/23 Integrated Annual Report. They are not presented as current programme enrolments or ongoing training totals.
FPD's partnership approach included the development of practical resources to support healthcare management training and the continued use of learning materials beyond individual workshops.
Toolkits, pocket guides, animations and facilitator recordings to support face-to-face and virtual workshops.
E-learning courses and digital training resources to improve the accessibility and reach of management development.
Selected training materials and programmes developed or adapted in English and Portuguese to support regional implementation.
Workshops and stakeholder engagements enabling country partners to share experiences, build consensus and strengthen local capacity.
Professionalising healthcare management is an investment in the people and systems responsible for delivering healthcare services. Through education, technical assistance, leadership development and regional collaboration, FPD supports health systems to strengthen management capacity and improve the way services are planned and delivered.
FPD works with governments, universities, development partners and healthcare institutions to strengthen health systems through education, technical assistance and capacity development.
Contact the FPD team to learn more about the programme's training approaches or explore opportunities for collaboration and co-design.
Contact FPD