UNISWA

THE AFRICAN HEALTH PROFESSION REGULATORY COLLABORATIVE (ARC)SUMMATIVEBy Dr Nkosazana Ruth MkhontaSwaziland teamIntroductionThe African Health Profession Regulatory Collaborative(ARC) Summative Congress was held on July 30-August2, 2013 in Nairobi-Mayfair Sun, Kenya. The ARC is aninnovative, south-to-south partnership in which nationalNursing and Midwifery teams’ work together to improveprofessional regulations in the east, central and southernAfrican region.THE ARC is a four year Initiative. It is unique in thatit supports regulation improvement projects whichare developed, proposed, and implemented by thenational Nursing and Midwifery leadership teams. Byemphasizing south-to-south collaboration and sharingof resources, the ARC not only advances rapid scale-upof regulatory reform in the region, but also builds longtermcapacity among African professional institutions,resulting in stronger health systems for years to come.The aimThe aim of the ARC is to strengthen the capacity ofNursing and Midwifery regulatory leadership to improvehealth professional standards and practice in the region,using local solutions and peer based learning.The objectives of the summative congress were to:• Facilitate regional dialogue on lessons learned andthe sharing of the best practices in nursing andmidwifery legislation, education standards andpractice regulation.20UNISWA News - October 2013• Foster collaboration between nursing and midwiferystakeholders in each country and advance theircollaborative leadership skills.• Promote networking among nursing and midwiferyleadership within the ECSA region and the sharingof good practices in nursing regulation betweencountries.• Provide assistance and technical support to countriesto advance topic identification for their ARC grantproposals linking nursing and midwifery regulationto HIV service provision.• Disseminate WHO norms, standards, and guidelineson health professional education and trainingprovide assistance and technical support to countriesto advance topic identification for their ARC grantproposals linking nursing and midwifery regulationto HIV service provision.PARTNERSThe ARC initiative is supported by the CommonwealthSecretariat; the US Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC) under the US President’s EmergencyPlan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); Emory University’sLillian Carter Center for Global health and SocialResponsibility; the East, Central and Southern AfricaHealth Community (ECSA-HC); and the CommonwealthNurses Federation (CNF).