Systems Strengthening Working Group

The Systems Strengthening Working Group aims to strengthen the global, regional, and country systems needed to ensure reliable and predictable reproductive health (RH) supplies.  It works to ensure that these systems are better aligned, more data-driven, and more coordinated. Topics included under the Working Group are the identification, design, and implementation of new funding mechanisms for RH supplies, as well as better systems for forecasting, warehousing, distribution, and information management.

The Systems Strengthening Working Group (SSWG) has a long history of leadership in supply chain initiatives. This includes the formation of several key workstreams that have focused on specific areas of systems strengthening to address a variety of challenges affecting global supply chains. These include the Coordinated Assistance for Reproductive Health Supplies (CARhs) and Coordinated Supply Planning (CSP) groups, both of which became a vital part of RHSC’s Global Family Planning Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN). The Professional Development of Supply Chain Managers workstream provided the building blocks for the Learning and Professional Training Opportunities (LAPTOP) hub and its associated scholarship program. Other workstreams under SSWG include Harmonizing Stockout Indicators and Reproductive Health Supplies in Emergency Settings. To learn more about this work, please visit the workstreams tab.