The draft regional strategic framework aims to ensure access for all people in the Region to an adequate, competent, well balanced, motivated and responsive health workforce functioning within robust health systems geared towards universal health coverage.

The draft regional strategic framework emphasizes the development and implementation of evidence-informed health workforce policies and strategic plans to provide a strategic vision in addressing health workforce challenges. Health workforce policies and strategic plans need to be in line with the overall health strategy and broader development strategies to strengthen health systems. Such strategies should cover all cadres of health workers taking into account the dynamics of the labour market, population needs, economic growth, and demographic and epidemiological changes of a country.

The development and especially implementation of health workforce policies and strategic plans need to be supported by some enabling strategies: capacities for governance and regulation are critical for implementation. Similarly, adequate investment and resources should be available to realize the plans. Information and evidence is critical for both effective and realistic planning and monitoring progress in addressing health workforce challenges.

The draft strategic framework identifies four policy directions in line with the Global strategy on human resources for health: workforce 2030.

1. Develop and implement comprehensive national health workforce policies and strategic plans to optimize health workforce availability, quality and performance, based on an understanding of labour market dynamics.

2. Strengthen capacities for health workforce governance and regulation.

3. Mobilize and align investment in the health workforce to ensure implementation of strategic plans to meet current and future health workforce needs, quantitatively and qualitatively.

4. Strengthen the health workforce information base for designing, implementing and monitoring health workforce strategies.