Africa Christian Health Associations Platform
The Africa Christian Health Associations Platform (ACHAP) has strengthened its members’ capacities to address HRH challenges with support from CapacityPlus. ACHAP is an advocacy and networking organization made up of 34 Christian/church health associations (CHAs) in 28 sub-Saharan African countries (see Figure 2).
Building on foundational work within ACHAP that occurred under the USAID-funded Capacity Project (2004–2009) in the areas of retention, HR management, and leadership, CapacityPlus has also provided direct support to five ACHAP members: the CHAs of Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, and Zambia. These associations provide between 20% and 40% of health services in their countries.
Through partner IMA World Health, CapacityPlus seconded an HR technical advisor to work closely with ACHAP members. The project supported the establishment and strengthening of an ACHAP HRH technical working group that has grown to include 13 CHAs from ten countries. The group meets regularly to learn from different country experiences. Six workshops on HRH have been held since 2007, with growing interest from members and partners in enhancing these exchanges. These forums have served as capacity-building sessions for HR professionals and leaders in the FBO community.
Figure 2: Distribution of Christian Health Associations in Africa
Source: IMA World Health