WHO’s presence in countries
In the village of Bheja, Chhattisgarh, India, health workers provide members of the community with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
Advancing national and global health goals
Since WHO was founded in 1948, its presence in countries, territories and areas has been its primary mode of delivering technical cooperation to Member States. Today, WHO has dedicated staff working in 152 WHO country offices, some of which support more than one Member State.
WHO country teams play a crucial and catalytic role in providing leadership in the health sector and advancing national and global health goals. They provide technical assistance to governments, help plan and implement health programmes, and support advocacy and resource mobilization. In addition, WHO country teams also lead and convene joint action among health partners, working closely with other United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, the private sector and communities. WHO also facilitates exchanges between countries, to promote cooperation and sharing of solutions to common challenges.
WHO delivers its technical cooperation based on its country cooperation strategies. To oversee and strengthen WHO’s work in countries, the Department of Country Strategy and Support, based within the Office of the Director-General at WHO’s headquarters, together with country support units in the regions, works closely with country offices and all other stakeholders.
WHO has been working to accelerate the strengthening of its country offices through an initiative led by WHO representatives in countries: the Action for Results Group. An Action Plan proposed by the group in February 2023 has kickstarted work to ensure country offices are empowered, predictably and appropriately staffed and financed, and operate in streamlined ways, so WHO is able to deliver impact where it matters – at the country level.
A woman from the local Maasai community laughs when she gets a mark on her finger indicating that she's received the oral cholera vaccine
Reports and documents
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Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Kuwait 2023–2027
Together, Kuwait and WHO have developed the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2023–2027 as a medium-term framework to support Kuwait in achieving...
WHO country stories: delivering for all
The stories collected here are anchored in the WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 13) results framework, which measures the progress...
Country Cooperation Strategy Guide 2023
The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) is WHO’s medium-term strategic framework to guide the Organization’s work in and with a ...
This document presents highlights of the WHO presence in countries, territories and areas: 2023 report, which provides an overview of WHO’s presence,...
The 2023 Country Presence Report provides an overview of what WHO does in countries to advance towards the SDGs and implement GPW13, how we do it, with...
Delivering measurable impact in countries is at the core of WHO’s mission to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable. The Thirteenth...
Country case studies are one of three integral components of WHO Results Framework. Together with Impact Measurement and Output Scorecards, they paint...
The 2021 Country Presence Report provides an overview of what WHO does in countries to advance towards the SDGs and implement GPW13, how we do it, with...