Comprehensive capacity-building in a post-conflict country: The liberian experience

Liberia is gradually recovering from a 14 year civil war that destroyed infrastructure and left the country with a heavily reduced work force. In order to ensure basic health services to all its citizens, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) developed a ten year National Health and Social Welfare Policy Plan. Rebuilding Basic Health Services (RBHS) is a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded initiative supporting the MOHSW towards rebuilding the Liberian health system. This presentation focuses on the capacity building component of the project. In January 2012, the MOHSW has started a massive and comprehensive capacity building (CB) initiative focusing not only at individual, but also at organizational and system levels. Capacity assessments have been organized in April 2012 at central as well as at county levels using the WHO six building block framework for strengthening health systems. Based on the results, strategic and operational plans as well as an implementation approach have been developed. The implementation approach calls for root cause analysis and stakeholders meetings at the start of each of the proposed interventions. CB interventions in each of the six building blocks are now underway at central as well as at county levels. The same capacity assessment tools which were used to establish the baseline will be used to track capacity improvements after a period of two years. The assessment tools, strategy, and implementation approach used by the Liberian MOHSW has the potential to be adapted to other post-conflict countries .