Strengthening Health Campaign Collaboration & Effectiveness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
From 27–29 April 2026, government leaders, technical experts, and global health partners gathered in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for a national workshop to move the country from fragmented, standalone campaign delivery toward a more coordinated and integrated model for health campaigns.
Convened under the leadership of Secretary General for Public Health, Dr Body Ilonga Bompoko, the workshop brought together senior representatives from priority programs, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi, the Gates Foundation,Sydani Group, eGov Foundation and the Task Force for Global representing the Health Campaign Effectiveness Coalition (HCE Coalition) Program Office, and other technical partners. Together, participants worked to identify opportunities to better coordinate and collaborate on health campaigns, improving efficiency while strengthening routine health services, using the HCE Coalition’s Collaborative Action Strategy (CAS) as a framework.
The HCE Coalition Program Office was pleased to support several WHO colleagues with this important workshop. Through interactive sessions, participants explored practical approaches to strengthening cross-programme collaboration, aligning partners around shared priorities, and building the governance structures needed to support integrated campaign planning and implementation.
The workshop marked an important milestone in the DRC’s efforts to move from vertically planned campaigns toward a more collaborative and integrated approach. Participants mapped planned health campaigns over the next three years, identified opportunities for integration, and developed a roadmap to guide implementation. The resulting plan includes the establishment of a national coordination mechanism, technical working groups, and a strategy for monitoring progress. Building on DRC’s own MR-Polio integration experience and lessons from Ethiopia and Nigeria, participants identified 33 opportunities for integrated campaigns, including immunization, neglected tropical disease interventions, malaria prevention, and nutrition activities.
For the HCE Coalition, this workshop reflects the growing momentum behind collaborative approaches to campaign planning and implementation that can help improve coverage, reduce operational costs, and make better use of limited health workforce capacity. As countries seek to maximize the impact of health investments while reducing the burden of overlapping campaigns on health workers and communities, collaboration is becoming an essential component of stronger, more resilient health systems.
Explore examples of how Ethiopia and Nigeria adapted the CAS to their contexts and learn more about their experiences: