Working Groups & Interest Groups
CORE Group’s six technical and cross-cutting Working Groups are led by chairs and co-chairs from our Member and Associate Organizations. They provide technical leadership and facilitate the group to further the strategic development of standards, activities and products that will advance community-focused health programs and technical agenda. Our Working Groups are: Systems for Health; Monitoring & Evaluation; Nutrition, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health; and Social & Behavior Change. CORE Group’s Interest Groups work in similar form as Working Groups but are convened based on need. Our Interest Groups are: Disability Inclusive Health Technical Advisory Group; Humanitarian-Development Task Force; WASH and Health, Noncommunicable Diseases Interest Group, and One Health.
Vision: The Systems for Health Working Group seeks to promote people-centered, Community-Inclusive Systems for Health, which deliver expanding packages of health interventions tailored to specific contextual needs and opportunities, connecting social and health care structures, valuing prevention, health promotion, and the agency of communities to own their future. We are interested in cross-cutting issues, which contribute to strengthening systems for health, such as:
- The full integration of community-based systems into national health systems and strategies
- Community health human resources
- Community management structures
- Social capital
- Civil society engagement
- Social accountability and health systems’ responsiveness
A collaborative publication included in the BMJ Global Health Supplement on The Alma Ata Declaration at 40 now reflects our belief in the evidence-based concept of Community-Inclusive Systems for Health as an organizing platform to advance these issues. Join us as a member, find out what workstream you can contribute to (currently active Nov 2019), Social Accountability, Human Resources for Community Health / CHWs, Global Health Agenda Advocacy for Community-Inclusive Systems for Health, or mobilize to start a new workstream. Co-Chairs: Kamden Hoffmann, Corus International Rhonda Holloway, ADRA International Shefa Sikder, CARE
Vision: The M&E Working Group develops tools and trainings to increase child survival and health program performance and quality through the standardization of use of data, analysis and reporting. Co-Chairs: Sibylle Kristenson, One Heart Worldwide Yordanos B. Molla, Abt Associates
Vision: The Nutrition Working Group underscores the critical role of nutrition in maternal and child survival and health through dissemination of state-of-the-art information and approaches essential for quality nutrition programming. Co-Chairs: Diana Allotey, Student Member Charlotte Block, Individual Member Albertha Nyaku, Individual Member Shelley Walton, Individual Member
Vision: The RMNCAH Working Group synthesizes current research, best practices, and country experiences to provide CORE Group partner organizations with technical updates in the areas of women and maternal health; newborn and child health; and family planning and reproductive health. Co-Chairs: Maryjane Lacoste, IntraHealth Laura Raney, FP2030 Devina Shah, World Relief Staff Representative: Avani Duggaraju, CORE Group
Vision: The SBC Working Group contributes to improved maternal and child health outcomes by strengthening the capacity of CORE members to design and implement effective social and behavioral change strategies while documenting and disseminating valuable experiences. Co-Chairs: Paul Fast, Mennonite Central Committee Elizabeth Long, Independent Consultant Erin Pfeiffer, Food for the Hungry Staff Representative: Avani Duggaraju, CORE Group
Vision: In 2018, CORE Group prioritized a Disability Inclusive Health agenda and established the Disability Inclusive Health Technical Advisory Group (TAG), based on requests from the global practitioner community, to address gaps in disability inclusivity in health programming and advocacy. The Disability Inclusive Health Technical Advisory Group is open to all CORE Group members and associates, as well as non-members NGOs, CSOs, academic institutions, national governments, UN, donors, and policy makers’ representatives committed to work toward “Leaving No One Behind” and “Health for All” along the continuum from humanitarian relief to development. The TAG is committed to include the voice and work of people living with disabilities and disabled people organizations in the TAG. Disability-Inclusive Health TAG Objectives:
- Promote learning on disability inclusive health and rehabilitation;
- Facilitate collaboration to promote disability inclusive health initiatives;
- Advocate for disability inclusive health policies; and
- Advocate for increased resources for disability inclusive health programming.
Co-Chairs: Rachel Chaikof, Chemonics Laura McGough, URC Grace Peters, Smile Train Staff Representative: Lisa Hilmi, CORE Group Click Here for the DIH TAG Member Database
Vision: If the global community is to continue progress in reducing preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths, new strategies will need to be followed to address the biggest inequities, and to reach the most marginalized populations. Global health and nutrition programming in fragile contexts will need humanitarian-development hybrid approaches to address immediately life-saving needs while also maintaining steady progress in health system strengthening. Our collective approach will need to be different. It will need to be comprehensive of preparedness, resilience, acute emergency response, direct service delivery, effective transition, and longer-term attention to health system strengthening throughout the preparedness-emergency-transition-development continuum. As a contribution to this effort, the CORE Group’s Humanitarian-Development Global Health Task Force (HDTF) aims to drive improved coordination, communication and collaborative learning across global health programming in emergency response, recovery, and development. This Task Force will work closely with NGOs, CSOs, national governments, UN, donors, and policy makers to break down barriers that inhibit better coordination across the humanitarian-development continuum and ultimately improve humanitarian and development outcomes. HDTF Objectives:
- Community Health Program Learning
- Organizational Collaboration
- Advocacy for Improved Resources
- Advocacy for Efficient Policy
Co-Chairs: Sarah Kellogg, IMA World Health Susan Otchere, World Vision
Vision: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) account for over 60% of deaths worldwide and include but are not limited to cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, mental illness, and injuries. NCDs cause millions of preventable deaths, particularly in less developed nations, where 4 out of 5 of these deaths occur. Most of these people, particularly in developing countries, lack access to the preventative measures or lifesaving treatments proven to be effective against NCDs. We already have many effective solutions, but we need to put them into action. CORE Group’s NCD Interest Group works to convene those working to treat and prevent NCDs at the community level, to share resources, events, and vital information to improve their work. Co-Chairs: Annie Toro, What to Expect Project Dr. Arti Varanasi, Advancing Synergy Learn More Working Group pages require free login.
Vision: One Health is a multisectoral, transdisciplinary approach that promotes the interconnections between the health of humans, animals, plants and the planet we share. Over 75% of novel infectious diseases are from animal sources, contributing 2.5 billion cases of human illness and 2.7 million deaths annually, mostly in developing countries. Given the increasing frequency and intensity of animal borne disease outbreaks, the global health community has taken up the call for a One Health approach to prevention, detection and response to outbreaks, as well as an examination of related modes of transmission within the environment. As a contribution to this effort, the CORE Group’s One Health Interest Group supports coordination, communication, and collaboration for strengthened community engagement across human, animal and environment sectors before, during and after outbreaks. Objectives:
- Mutual knowledge sharing and rapport built among multiple sectors
- One Health and Social Behavior Change resource exchange among participants
- Collaborative partnerships and project design with Social Scientists, One Health Practitioners, and Community Health Implementers, to understand drivers of disease emergence and pathways for prevention
- Continuous feedback between global bodies and local implementers (e.g., piloting WHO/UNICEF guidelines; Social Science and Community Engagement for Outbreaks conference calls)
- Coordination, strategic thinking, and collaboration to strengthen community engagement during outbreak response
- Analysis and action of synergies between One Health and Global Health Security in Humanitarian and Development contexts.
Co-Chairs: Kirk Dearden, Corus International Robert Salerno, DAI Anahit Gevorgyan, DHSC
Vision: The WASH and Health Interest Group is a forum for stakeholders who are working to reduce preventable deaths around the world by bridging the technical and advocacy leadership of the health and WASH sectors to promote the linkages between health and WASH in both development and humanitarian contexts. Objectives:
- Elevate the importance of integrating health and WASH interventions
- Ensure effective integration of investments and resources in health and WASH solutions
- Advocate for policies that include health and WASH targets in respective programming
- Promote health/WASH integrated interventions through cross-sectoral collaboration with other CORE Group working group technical areas and with country and global partners
- Serve as a resource on the integration of WASH and health programming
Co-Chair: Benjamin Masila, Individual Member Aarin Palomares, FHI 360