The World Health Organization estimates that faith-based organizations (FBOs) provide 30-70% of health care in the developing world. However, there is very little recognition or documentation of the contributions that FBOs make in the pre-service and in-service training of health care professionals, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Beginning in 2004, the Capacity Project worked to strengthen FBO networks’ human resources. Project staff noted that although that many members of FBO networks provide a significant amount of pre-service and in-service health worker training, especially for nurses and midwives, information about FBOs’ contributions is not well known or documented. Using a multipronged research strategy, Project staff sought to document the breadth of pre-service and in-service trainings offered by FBOs, with a focus on nursing and midwifery pre-service training in Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Voices from the Capacity Project

“Health workers are the backbone of health service delivery,” says Francis Ntalazi, assistant commissioner of human resources management in Uganda’s Ministry of Health. Yet when the Capacity Project began five years ago, many countries had a long way to go in planning, developing and supporting the health workforce.

In Southern Sudan, for example, planning was hindered by lack of information on who was working where. “We did not know how many health workers were practicing in the country,” said Dr. Monywiir Arop Kuol, undersecretary of health. “HR systems and structures did not exist.”

In Mali, workforce development was less than ideal—matrones attend the majority of births but weren’t trained in a lifesaving practice to prevent postpartum hemorrhage. “Many women were lost,” said matrone Berthé Aissata Touré.

And in Kenya, health workers weren’t always supported to do their best and be motivated to remain on the job. “Work schedules weren’t well organized,” said Dr. Muriuki Meme of Hola District Hospital, “and the management was not friendly towards the staff.”