ECSA-HC and Africa Frontline First Partner to Strengthen Community Health Systems in East, Central and Southern Africa

ECSA-HC and Africa Frontline First Formalise Regional Partnership to Strengthen Community Health Worker Systems Across East, Central and Southern Africa

Memorandum of understanding and joint action plan signing on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly will mark a commitment to professionalise community health workers as a cornerstone of universal health coverage in the region.

GENEVA, 21 MAY 2026 — The East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) and Africa Frontline First (AFF) today signed a memorandum of understanding and joint action plan to accelerate the expansion and professionalisation of community health workers across East, Central and Southern Africa. Signed on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the agreement launches a regional partnership to help countries strengthen frontline healthcare systems and expand access to care at community level.

The partnership will leverage ECSA-HC’s leadership across 21 member states with Africa Frontline First’s expertise in financing for community health to advance the professionalisation of community health workers across the region. This regional push is aligned with and in service of advancing the African Union’s goal of professionalising two million community health workers by 2030.

The partnership comes at a moment of major transition in Africa’s health financing landscape, as governments move to build more resilient and self-directed health systems amid tightening global resources and growing pressure on public budgets. Across the continent, countries are increasingly focused on reducing fragmentation in community health delivery and strengthening nationally financed workforce models that can endure beyond short-term funding cycles. In this context, regional institutions such as ECSA-HC are becoming more important convening and coordinating actors — helping governments align policy, pool technical leadership, and accelerate implementation at scale. The partnership reflects a broader push for health sovereignty: ensuring countries have the institutional capacity, financing strategies, and regional support needed to lead and sustain their own community health agendas.

Since 2023, AFF has supported the professionalisation of more than 106,000 community health workers alongside partners like Africa CDC and the Global Fund. Under the new 2026–2028 Joint Action Plan with ECSA-HC, the partnership aims to support the professionalisation of additional community health workers across the region.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Ntuli Angyelile Kapologwe, Director General of the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community, and Nan Chen, Co-Executive Director of Africa Frontline First, formalising long-term collaboration between two organisations with complementary mandates across policy, financing, and implementation, as well as a shared ideology on the importance of financing changes as an enabler of sovereign community health programs.

“Community health workers are the foundation of resilient and people-centred health systems,” echoed Dr. Ntuli Kapologwe, Director General of ECSA-HC. “Through this partnership, we are strengthening regional collaboration, advancing sustainable financing mechanisms, and supporting Member States to professionalise and empower frontline health workers as a critical pillar for achieving Universal Health Coverage and health security across Africa,” he added.

“Countries are driving efforts to strengthen community health systems, but many still face challenges in securing sustainable financing and scaling national programmes,” said Nan Chen, Co-Executive Director of Africa Frontline First. “This partnership is focused on helping governments build and sustain professional community health workforce programmes that are nationally owned, integrated into public systems, and capable of advancing long-term health sovereignty.”

Juliet Odogwu, Co-Executive Director of Africa Frontline First, emphasized the partnership’s health impact.

“By working together, we can support countries to strengthen resilient, locally led health systems, advance the professionalization of community health workers, and ensure communities continue to access quality primary healthcare services,” she said. “At its core, this partnership is about improving health outcomes for the people and communities these systems serve.”

What the partnership covers

The joint action plan sets out priority areas for the 2026–2028 period. Africa Frontline First and ECSA-HC will work together to build political leadership and domestic accountability for community health worker scale-up; strengthen coordination among partners at national, regional, and continental levels; and support member states in designing and implementing evidence-based community health programmes. The joint action plan also commits both organisations to joint resource mobilisation and support for countries to increase their domestic resource mobilization.

The financing dimension of this work is deliberate. A recurring barrier to community health worker professionalisation across the region is not the absence of political will but the absence of predictable, country-owned financing. The partnership will direct technical assistance toward domestic resource mobilisation, working with member states to build the investment cases and budget lines that can sustain community health worker programmes beyond donor cycles.

The signing takes place as global leaders gather in Geneva for the 79th World Health Assembly, where primary healthcare financing, workforce resilience, and equitable access to care remain central priorities. Africa Frontline First and ECSA-HC said the agreement reflects growing recognition that community health workers are essential to building resilient health systems and expanding access to care.