Last month, staff from the Kumuli District Health Office in Uganda reported that they have succeeded in recruiting 73 of the planned 80 new health workers (nurses, midwives, radiographers, and laboratory technicians), constructed 10 houses for health workers, and provided uniforms to 50 health workers.

Dr. David Muzira, the district health officer, and Harriet Naiga, acting district health visitor, stressed the importance of annual human resources for health action plans in accomplishing this work. Thus far, 78 districts in Uganda have developed these costed action plans with the support of the Uganda Capacity Program. These plans aim to help districts to recruit, train, and motivate health workers as well as improve the work environment by engaging the districts’ technical and political leaders.

“Action planning is a good tool for the manager,” said Dr. Muzira, “as it helps us to visualize on paper what our needs are and where you need to go.” Naiga added, “It is an innovation on building local capacity.”

The Uganda Capacity Program, an IntraHealth International-led, USAID-funded project, builds the capacity of Ugandan institutions to plan for the health workforce, focus on health workers’ education and training, and strengthen health workforce management and support of health workers.