Community Health Global Network and Sustainable Development

Abstract

With the achievements, failures and passing of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the world has turned its eyes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), designed to foster sustainable social, economic and environmental development over the next 15 years.(1) Community-led initiatives are increasingly being recognised as playing a key role in realising sustainable community development and in the aspirations of universal healthcare.(2) In many parts of the world, faith-based organisations are some of the main players in community-led development and health care.(3) Community Health Global Network (CHGN) creates links between organisations, with the purpose being to encourage communities to recognise their assets and abilities, identify shared concerns and discover solutions together, in order to define and lead their futures in sustainable ways.(4) CHGN has facilitated the development of collaborative groups of health and development initiatives called ‘Clusters’ in several countries including India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Myanmar. In March 2016 these Clusters met together in an International Forum, to share learnings, experiences, challenges, achievements and to encourage one another. Discussions held throughout the forum suggest that the CHGN model is helping to promote effective, sustainable development and health care provision on both a local and a global scale.

Keywords

• Community health
• Cluster
• Sustainable development