Community engagement is an approach to addressing health-related issues, promoting well-being, and taking action on the social determinants of health. It involves building relationships based on trust and working together to develop more effective health interventions, programs, services, and policies and to empower communities as key actors for health.
Through community engagement, individuals and communities are empowered to take an active role in their own health and participate in the decisions and structures that impact health and well-being. In this way, intentional engagement efforts help to unpack and address local issues and opportunities, identify and implement more effective grounds-up solutions, and leverage local resources and networks for sustaining health interventions and outcomes. The process is also essential in strengthening trust and respect between stakeholders, which is key to achieving positive and sustainable health outcomes.
In the Western Pacific Region, a sustained investment in community engagement is essential in working toward our For the Future vision of becoming the world’s healthiest and safest Region. This five-year strategy sets out four strategic priorities: 1) Health security; 2) Non-communicable diseases and ageing; 3) Climate change and health; and 4) Reaching the unreached. Achieving our future vision requires operational shifts, or new ways of thinking and working. Community engagement is a key process in this new way of thinking and working. It is based on a whole-of-society approach with people as the driving force.
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1 August 2023
Addressing trust through digitally enabled community engagement approaches in HIV/AIDSThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused severe disruptions in HIV/AIDS programming and service delivery, negatively impacting Cambodia’s...
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In the Western Pacific Region, community engagement activities in 2021 and 2022 included the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Initiative in Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines, and the Community Engagement Research Initiative in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Malaysia. Both Initiatives emphasized the importance of forging and strengthening partnerships with community-level organizations, academic partners, and vulnerablecommunities to support reaching the unreached during COVID-19 and beyond.
Key target groups included people living with HIV/AIDS, women from lower income backgrounds, indigenous and rural communities, refugees, migrants, and people newly released from prison. The Initiatives also focused on conducting capacity building for community health workers and community-level organizations to amplify national-level health guidelines at the local level. The lessons and best practices identified from the CSO and Community Engagement Research Initiatives are currently being implemented in the WHO Special Initiative for Action on Social Determinants of Health for Advancing Health Equity in Lao PDR and the Philippines.
Additionally, WHO in the Western Pacific convenes the Community Engagement Regional Network to ensure that good practices and learnings are documented and shared across the Region in a coordinated effort for health equity. This knowledge exchange, along with the capacity building work and partnerships with community stakeholders, are building blocks of the community engagement movement in the Region to ensure that we build back better, fairer, and healthier during COVID-19 and beyond.
Community Engagement Initiative projects
Civil Society Organization Initiative projects
