The World Health Organization conducted an International Health Regulations Training of Trainers (IHR TOT) in Abuja, Nigeria from 27 November to 1 December 2023. Participants in this training included representatives from seven Fragile, Conflict, and Violence-affected (FCV) States, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan and Zimbabwe. Recognizing the critical need for scaling up capacity building, the Evidence and Analytics for Health Security Unit (EHS) and Learning Solutions and Training units collaborated with the African Regional Office (AFRO) to expand essential training programs. This TOT focused on delivery of the IHR Learning Country Package, which provides essential knowledge on the IHR, its monitoring and evaluation framework, and the mandatory functions of the National IHR Focal Point.
The goal of the IHR TOT was to build a pool of national trainers to contribute to advancing the implementation of the IHR through delivery of the IHR Learning Country Package to targeted professionals in their respective countries. Ultimately, this TOT contributes to growing a new generation of national trainers skilled to scale up IHR capacity building in the African Region.
This training was designed using a blended learning approach including pre-training online courses and webinars, followed by a 5-day in-person session delivered using an andragogic learning methodology, emphasizing an interactive facilitation approach tailored for adult learners including hands-on practice, demonstrations, concise presentations, technical discussions and gamification to optimize engagement and learning outcomes.
At the end of the training, country teams identified specific next steps to strengthen the implementation of the IHR in their countries and developed a plan to implement the IHR Learning Country Package at national and subnational levels.
 |
| Participants of the IHR Training of Traingers in Nigeria. Photo by Chimaobi Ochemba, WHO Nigeria Country Office |
Throughout the next six months, each country team will be accompanied by a ‘coach’ assigned to them to ensure they get the necessary guidance and support to be able to implement IHR Learning Country Package in their respective countries. At a later stage, an evaluation will be conducted in each country to demonstrate impact of the IHR TOT in each participating country.