Table 4 Summary of 2017 assessment HSS program suggestions and actions taken for 2018 UNICEF cohort

HSS Program Developers (Nossal Institute for Global Health and UNICEF)

Assess UNICEF staff HSS needs, goals and motivations pre-HSS program

Aligns with the formative evaluation findings of UNICEF’s programming in HSS [7] and has been acted upon

Increase strategic link of HSS actions to staff operational work level and practices

Strategic link of HSS actions to UNICEF staff operational work level and practices have been highlighted in the 2018 HSS program

Include diverse country case studies on how to apply HSS actions

UNICEF Headquarters

Invest in a UNICEF Senior Executive HSS Masterclass to facilitate them to support and authorise their graduates to apply HSS approaches

A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that was developed in 2018 and launched in 2019 provided a means for both UNICEF staff and development partners to become familiar with much of the course content. In addition, the health specialists in health systems at UNICEF headquarter runs regional webinars to follow up with HSS graduates and their senior staff

Include applying HSS actions’ indicators in UNICEF staff Performance Appraisal Frameworks: to optimise graduates accountability for applying HSS actions

UNICEF performance appraisals provide the opportunity, and in additional there is the potential to review graduate workplans for evidence of HSS application

Support UNICEF graduates exchange visits to countries with exemplar HSS actions

The suggestion of ‘staff exchange visits’ is met through the current regional HSS webinars conducted by the HSS team in headquarters where graduates chare their examples of actions taken with those from other settings

Provide more face-to-face opportunities for graduates to interact with program deliverers and other graduates post-course

In 2018 graduates of the HSS program were invited to facilitate a side event at the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, the biennial conference for those involved in health systems research and practice

Invest in an expansion of the HSS program to UNICEF external partners

The launch of the MOOC in 2019 has been an excellent example of expanding the audience of the HSS program and reflects the regard with which UNICEF hold the blended learning program. In the first delivery of the MOOC over 6000 participants from 167 countries enrolled