Projects

FUNZOKenya

Launched in 2012, the FUNZOKenya project is supporting the Government of Kenya’s efforts to make dramatic changes to its health worker education and training systems. 

“Funzo” means training in Kiswahili, and the project aims to work across the public and private sectors to strengthen preservice education of health workers, improve access to training for existing health workers, and link professional licensure to ongoing professional development. These linkages are critical to ensuring quality health care.

Initiatives

  • Improve the supply of health workers by forecasting the number of new health workers needed and working with training institutions to increase admissions capacity
     
  • Establish regional training hubs that have updated 8,000+ health workers in critical areas such as HIV, family planning, and MNCH

  • Develop scholarship and loan programs to increase the supply of health workers through the Afya Elimu Fund; to date, 341 students have benefited from scholarships and more than 5,000 students have accessed loans

  • Harness technology to support 15 training institutions to develop and deliver up-to-date technical content and curricula through new learning modalities

  • Strengthen the ability of regulatory bodies to identify performance gaps, review curricula, and strengthen the link between continuing professional development and registration/re-licensure. 
  • Develop the iHRIS Train database, which contains records for nearly 12,000 health workers, to provide data for improving efficiencies and filling training gaps. 

Selected Achievements

Established the Afya Elimu Fund to provide affordable loans to 22,000+ health professional students in Kenya.
Established regional training hubs that have trained 8,000+ health workers in critical areas such as HIV, family planning, and maternal, newborn, and child health.

Resources