The World Health Organization estimates that faith-based organizations (FBOs) provide 30-70% of health care in the developing world. However, there is very little recognition or documentation of the contributions that FBOs make in the pre-service and in-service training of health care professionals, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Beginning in 2004, the Capacity Project worked to strengthen FBO networks’ human resources. Project staff noted that although that many members of FBO networks provide a significant amount of pre-service and in-service health worker training, especially for nurses and midwives, information about FBOs’ contributions is not well known or documented. Using a multipronged research strategy, Project staff sought to document the breadth of pre-service and in-service trainings offered by FBOs, with a focus on nursing and midwifery pre-service training in Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Read the Capacity Project’s new technical brief to learn more about the FBOs’ contributions to pre-service and in-service training in Africa.

November 2009