World Health Organization (WHO) is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. Its overall Objective is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health and to realize this objective, WHO has formulated a corporate strategy comprised of several strategic directions.
Building on WHO’s mandate, six core functions have been defined for the organization and country activities of WHO Bangladesh are of course within the shepherd of these functions.
The core functions include the following
- Providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed
- Shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and dissemination of valuable knowledge
- Setting norms and standards, and promoting and monitoring their implementation
- Articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options
- Providing technical support, catalysing change, and building sustainable institutional capacity
- Monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends
In line with the above core functions, WHO support at the country level are designed and delivered to offering evidence-based guidelines, norms and standards, supporting capacity building and institutional strengthening, generating evidence for informed decision-making, shaping appropriate health policies and improving the overall delivery of health services.