Towards effective and sustainable partnerships for resilient health systems in Africa: highlights from the WHO African region transformation agenda

Background This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of the partnerships and communication focus area of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO)’s transformation agenda (TA). TA a vision and strategy for change launched in 2015 by the WHO AFRO’s regional director to enhance the resilience of health systems in Africa. Methods This qualitative study collected data from WHO AFRO’s documents and 47 staff members involved in the implementation of the TA at the regional office and 33 country offices. Document analysis, semi-structured key informant interviews (KII), and focus group discussions (FGDs) were the data collection methods. The KII guides and FGDs schedules were based on the 360-degree assessment, which is publicly available. Thematic content analysis through triangulation was applied to extract insights from the experiences and perspectives of the participants regarding partnerships and communication in the context of the TA. Results WHO AFRO led by the regional director in the TA deliberately worked on enhancing partnerships and communications at both the regional and country offices. The efforts significantly improved communications, external relations, engagements with existing partners, and attraction of new and potential partners. The pool of partners increased and resource mobilization improved as the amount of contributions and diversity of sources expanded, translating to strengthened health systems and better health outcomes. Conclusions WHO AFRO’s TA effectively revamped partnerships and communication, and laid the foundation for sustainability of policies and actions for health systems’ strengthening. Partnerships and communication can be further improved through greater involvement of top leadership as exemplified by regional director’s active role. More resource allocation and closer engagement of local communities, associations, and organizations are also recommended.