Making bright spots happen: WHO immunization Scholars from 90 countries commit to achieving impact

GENEVA, 15 May 2019 (The Geneva Learning Foundation) – “Bright spots” in routine immunization are stories about immunization programmes that have successfully improved performance at a subnational level in LMICs and LICs.

We can wait for them to happen. We can try to find them.

Or we can support those who make them happen.

On 15 May 2019, 189 Scholar Alumni from the latest cohort of the World Health Organization’s course on routine immunization planning united to commit to achieving impact towards the global goals for immunization.

Every Scholar has already developed a practical plan to improve routine immunization in their context, and has helped their colleagues improve their plans.

Now they are taking action to move from ideas to implementation.

Over one-third of Scholar Alumni work at the district level, where children live and where immunization outcomes actually happen.

They are part of a larger group of over 1,000 Alumni of the WHO Scholar programme. The first impact evaluation of the programme found a surprising number of Alumni who documented improved immunization coverage as a result of implementing projects that began as course work.

By actively supporting each other, Scholars hope to multiply such individual success stories into a collective effort where course work is transformed into implementation on the road to impact.

On 22 May, Scholars will reconvene, this time to hear first-hand such success stories from 60 WHO Scholar programme Alumni.

Over 400 Alumni are already actively supporting colleagues as Accompanists, peer tutors and coaches who demonstrate exceptional leadership and genuine care for colleagues who, when they first met, were complete strangers from halfway around the world.

This inaugural meeting is a milestone in the Geneva Learning Foundation’s project development to establish the first Impact Accelerator, a radically new approach to achieve impact better and faster, together.