The institutional arrangements for the AHWO are envisaged as a partnership based on networking. A partnership will be developed involving national institutions and multilateral and bilateral agencies. The name -Observatory- is used in the sense of the networking of the Governments, stakeholders and gathering partners around a strong evidence base.
The AHWO is envisaged as a network to comprise of national observatories (which bring together the stakeholders at country level), partners and a regional secretariat. The network will allow defining priorities and strategies through promoting to produce better information, consolidating databases, keeping track of progress and to promote action.
Current collaborating partners
The West African Health Organisation (WAHO) was formed in 1987 when the Heads of State and Government from all fifteen countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted the Protocol creating the organisation. In March of 2000, WAHO began active operations as a leading health authority in the sub-region, serving ECOWAS Member States Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
As an inter-governmental organization ECSA Communauty Health maintains direct links with regional health policy-makers who include Health Ministers and Permanent/Principal Secretaries as well as an extensive network of regional health institutions. ECSA also maintains strong linkages with international development agencies based in the region and other parts of the world.ECSA contributes to improving health in the region by undertaking activities that aim to promote and encourage efficiency and relevance in the provision of health services in the region. Most of the activities have been undertaken in the areas of capacity building, policy and advocacy, research and evaluation and information sharing. ECSA’s current member states are Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe
Created in 1984, OCEAC is a sub regional organization for health. The current members’ states are Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, CAR, Chad and Equatorial Guinea later. The new missions given to OCEAC are to:
- coordinate health policies and actions;
- participate in the capacity building of the health workers in members’ states;
- coordinate research and synergy of applied research undertaken by national institutions
- implement tasks of expertise in different areas of health sciences;
- contribute to health promotion;
- provide support in response to health emergencies.