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September 11, 2024
Living Goods has been instrumental in strengthening the enabling environment for community health workers (CHW) programs by supporting governments in developing and strengthening policies, implementation guidelines, and financial frameworks. This foundational work ensures that CHWs can maximize their potential, resulting in significantly improved service delivery and health outcomes.
The ministries of health of Uganda and Burkina Faso have recognized Living Goods’ expertise by selecting the organization to lead the implementation of the Building Integrated Readiness for Community Health (BIRCH) projects.
These projects focus on creating the necessary strategies, structure, and support for CHW programs to thrive and deliver high-quality, sustainable health services.
Stakeholders at the launch of Project BIRCH 2 in Burkina Faso.
Following the success of Project BIRCH 1 in Burkina Faso in 2023, Living Goods, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene (MSHP), recently launched Phase 2 of Project BIRCH. Implemented with funding from The Global Fund and technical support from Africa Frontline First (AFF), and Last Mile Health, this phase aims to improve primary care by strengthening the guiding strategies and policies of the community health system over three years.
Dr. Issa Ouédraogo, Secretary General of MSHP, emphasized the project’s importance in generating solutions.
“This project will strengthen our capacity to respond to local health challenges. We will mobilize all the necessary resources to ensure its success.”
In Uganda, the Ministry of Health is entrusting Living Goods to improve community health through Project BIRCH. Living Goods will spearhead efforts to strengthen partner coordination, craft crucial strategic documents such as the Village Health Team (VHT) Revitalization Strategy and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) Strategy, lead assessments to identify gaps in the community health sector and formulate planning frameworks.
In Kenya, Living Goods is a key player in several coalitions and consortiums, where we are leveraging our extensive experience and expertise to create a strong enabling environment to ensure the success of implementation support. For example, with the USAID-funded Misingi Imara project, Living Goods is partnering with the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and Jhpiego to strengthen human resources for health, improve quality management systems, and enhance community health systems across ten counties.
CHU4UHC coalition partners at a co-creation workshop in Kisumu, Kenya.
The goal is to establish robust national and county health systems capable of delivering equitable, high-quality health services. Additionally, at a recent co-creation workshop with the CHU4UHC platform members, Living Goods assessed the platform’s impressive achievements including incorporating community health and PHC into political agendas and strategized for future activities to continue to influence the policy environment.
CHU4UHC is instrumental in defining priority strategies and interventions to drive comprehensive community health service coverage.
We recognize that each country we work with is at a different stage of maturity in its community health programs. However, through projects like BIRCH and platforms like CHU4UHC in Kenya, we see the impact of strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts in enhancing community health systems. By continuously improving the enabling environment, Living Goods ensures the success of our implementation support work, ultimately leading to stronger health outcomes for communities.