Webinar: Realising Community Engagement in Global Health

“Focusing on community engagement has become important for global health, as countries face complex health challenges that stretch and test the capacity and resilience of health systems and populations they serve” — WHO, 2017

The ideas and concepts related to “community” and “community engagement” are not new. Community participation was determined as a fundamental component of primary health care in the Alma Ata Declaration, in 1978, and paved the way for broad support for community participation, engagement and mobilization in health.

The Covid-19 emergency has brought these concepts into sharp relief. Globally there has been an upsurge in community solidarity and activism, underlining the vital role of local communities in supporting health and wellbeing.

So it is timely to take stock and explore progress, opportunities and challenges in community engagement for global health.

This webinar brought together world leaders in the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) group approach, to explore the state of the art and its potential as one important tool in efforts to engage communities in global health.

And it also brought together prominent stakeholders to share their valuable expertise and consider how governments, universities, NGOs, donors and communities could collaborate effectively to drive the agenda forwards.