AMREF’s strategy & approach
Although formal health care in African countries should reach all communities, the system is stressed by the burden of disease, insufficient human resources, funding issues, and a lack of community involvement. Vulnerable communities, which make up large parts of the population, are left behind.
AMREF helps bridge this gap in the burden of disease. Over the years, we have learned that disease treatment programs alone are not enough to improve the overall health of those we serve.That's why we have changed the main focus of our work accordingly.
Our goal
AMREF’s goal is to improve disease prevention, health promotion, and access to health services in Africa as a means to improve the overall health and lives of the people on the continent.
Our strategy
To reach this goal, we have developed a comprehensive ten-year strategy, Putting African Communities First based on the following three pillars:
1. Partnering with communities for better health
- AMREF works to empower African communities to define and address their own health needs and to have a voice in the design and management of their health services.
2. Building health care capacity
- We address issues related to the shortage of health workers in Africa.
- Our focus on building the skills of African health workers in communities and in health facilities ensures that Africa's health workers and health systems are better able to respond to the continent's health challenges.
- AMREF helps improve the planning and delivery of health services to poor communities by strengthening management and health information systems.
3. Conducting research to inform health practice and policy
- AMREF models innovative approaches to strengthen health systems, collects evidence from these interventions, and shares this evidence to influence national and regional health policy, practice, and resource allocation.
Monitoring and evaluation of results
To ensure that we meet our goals, we have developed a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan. We define indicators for both the successful implementation of the strategy as a whole and for specific goals; set yearly milestones towards end-of-project targets; carry out baseline surveys before project start; and track output and results.
A central reporting function at AMREF oversees all monitoring and evaluation activities.
