Stakeholder leadership, open-source technologies: Strengthening human resources information systems in Africa

Lack of accurate and available data about health professionals contributes to the enormous challenge of training and supplying the health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. Human resources information systems (HRIS) are needed for human resources planning, management and policy development so that the right number and type of providers are trained and deployed in the right places. The USAID-funded Capacity Project has developed a process for strengthening HRIS using a country-level participatory approach. The approach ensures ownership of the HRIS among stakeholders, empowers them to develop an HRIS that meets their needs and builds the necessary capacity for support, use and improvement of the system. The foundation for the approach is a Stakeholder Leadership Group composed of decision makers from diverse stakeholder groups like human resources, registrars and training institutions. The HRIS strengthening process consists of: defining the key human resources questions that will be answered by analyzing data collected in a HRIS; assessing and strengthening the information technology infrastructure to support the HRIS; implementing software using Open Source technologies to reduce costs; training policy makers in how to use data captured in the system to make HR management, planning and policy decisions; and ensuring sustainability and continuous use by training local teams to develop, deploy and maintain the software. Core software solutions developed by the Project address HRH needs to track students and licensed health workers at the national level; manage health professionals deployed at a national, regional, organizational or sector level; and plan for workforce needs in the future. In addition to providing an overview of the Capacity Project's approach and software solutions, this presentation will include key lessons learned from the Project's HRIS strengthening work in seven African countries.