The WHO Health Emergencies Programme, with the support of the WHO Academy, recently hosted Learning 4 Impact 2025, a series of virtual workshops that aims to catalyse build back better holistic learning programmes to address post-pandemic challenges.
The world is not on track to achieve its health-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and targets by 2030; progress is at half the required rate of change. The increasing number of global crises and the danger of future pandemics underscore the urgent need for health systems to strengthen both technical capacity and community engagement.
Addressing critical skills gaps among health and care workers is crucial to meeting these emergency needs in the future, but there is a chronic shortage of public health professionals and health workers around the world. According to WHO estimates, there will be a shortfall of at least 10 million health workers by 2030.
In addition, the International Health Regulations (IHR) are undergoing several amendments in response to the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Member States agreed to a package of amendments to the IHR in 2024 that should come into force in mid-2025. This will result in a new demand for training from Member States to implement the new and updated IHR core capacities.
The Learning 4 Impact series, which took place over the course of February and March, is focused on the training needs of health and care workers, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), who serve on the frontline of public health emergency response. The workshops were aimed at IHR focal points and those working in community protection in WHO Member States, as well as WHO technical staff and partners across the globe.
Comptency-based learning for better community protection
Within the context of WHO's Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience (HEPR) framework, community protection plays a critical role in ensuring that emergency preparedness and response efforts are grounded in the realities of the people they serve. Community-centred approaches are essential for effective leadership in health emergencies, ensuring that interventions are trusted, inclusive and responsive to local needs.
"Community protection is a cornerstone of emergency response. Strengthening the learning ecosystem for those working with and within communities helps us build trust, respond more effectively and ultimately save lives. This is a crucial step towards embedding community protection into the way we prepare for and respond to public health threats," said Dr Kai von Harbou, Unit Head for Community Protection and Resilience in the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.
Throughout the five virtual workshops, 600 participants worked together to map existing health learning products, provide insights on preliminary learning needs analyses for their countries, and identified and redefined target health learning audiences
Community health workers (CHWs) were identified as a key learning audience, particularly in LMICs where they often serve as the first point of contact in health emergencies. Their learning needs were systematically mapped and prioritized, recognizing the crucial role CHWs play in community engagement, disease detection, risk communication and basic service delivery during crises.
"Community health workers often operate with limited resources, unclear roles in emergency protocols and without adequate training. By investing in structured, competency-based learning the Community Protection and Resilience Unit empowers CHWs to act confidently and effectively in times of crisis – an investment that strengthens both response outcomes and long-term community resilience," Dr von Harbou added.
Lifelong learning for better health outcomes
Together with key experts from the WHO Academy, participants also discussed innovative strategies and modalities that can improve the health learning experience. Following these workshops, both the IHR and community protection focal points plan to conduct more extensive learning needs analyses with their respective target learners and develop curriculum plans in collaboration with WHO. Feedback from post-webinar evaluation surveys was mainly positive. One of the participants said, "I love the fact that the Organization takes time to get feedback from the Member States on the strategies that are used so as to improve their work. This is really good."
Head of the Learning Design and Production Unit at the WHO Academy Melinda Frost says that to reach the SDG health targets, health systems and health and care workers need to make better use of evidence-based solutions and focus on competency-based learning.
"Learning needs to be continuous. Health-care practices are consistently evolving, and we need to ensure that our health and care professionals continually acquire the new skills needed to deliver programmes and services for essential public health functions," she said. "Our aim is to reach learners in LMICs, where the need is greatest. This is the Academy's priority – to reach learners in these countries, driving equity in access to learning for health and care workers globally."
