2025 CHW SYMPOSIUM & BANGKOK CTA

4th International CHW Symposium.

The 4th International Community Health Worker (CHW) Symposium took place virtually November 10–14, 2025, hosted by Community Partners International and partners across the globe.

Exploring the theme “On the Front Lines: Strengthening CHW Programs for Health Equity in Contexts of Conflict, Migration & Exclusion,” the Symposium explored how in a year marked by shrinking budgets and overlapping crises, professional CHWs are the people who make primary care work in the places that need it most.

Participants—from CHWs and governments to funders and regional bodies—rallied behind one clear message: countries are committed to integrating and strengthening their CHW workforces. Partners now need to match that alignment with additional funding, renewed focus, and implementation rigor.

Taking Stock of the Progress

Achieving health for all won’t be written in policy briefs alone. It will be shaped by the people carrying out the work. Today, CHWs are shaping policy—not just implementing it. Over 300 CHWs attended the Symposium—building on the momentum of the 2023 CHW Symposium in Liberia, where every country delegation included at least one CHW—making this the largest virtual gathering of CHWs ever recorded.

Margaret Odera, a CHW from Kenya, described the shift in real terms at the symposium opener:

“For more than 38 years, we were not even able to speak. But this year, CHWs were invited to address the Kenyan Council of Governors. They wanted to hear the reality on the ground.”

If CHWs are expected to deliver on national priorities, they must have structured ways to shape them. That means recognized CHW associations, formal roles in policy processes, and resourcing for CHW-led convenings.

Kenya’s recognition of its national CHW association—and similar efforts from across the continent—show what becomes possible when CHWs are treated as part of the health workforce.

“The backbone of our primary care systems is the community health workforce. Protecting and upscaling that workforce is a smart investment.”

Landry Tsague Dongmo, Director Center for Primary Health Care, Africa CDC

Countries Are Calling for Alignment.

Countries cannot sustain CHW programs if every partner runs siloed operational models. Government voices across the symposium were clear that progress depends on coherence. When partners align behind national plans—rather than introducing new tools, parallel data systems, or stand-alone models—countries can maintain quality, protect integration, and build toward long-term sustainability.

Africa CDC noted that over one million CHWs across 51 AU member states are now trained and deployed, and that 60% of countries formally recognize CHWs as part of their national workforce strategies.

This is the result of clearer coordination, better data on who funds what, and alignment behind national plans.

The Bangkok Call To Action

On the final day of the symposium, the Bangkok Call to Action (CTA) was introduced. A next step in the movement that began with the Monrovia Call to Action in 2023.

Monrovia set the standard that CHWs should be salaried, skilled, supervised, and supplied, and fully integrated into national systems. Many governments have since begun translating that standard into workforce strategies and investment plans.

The Bangkok CTA responds to today’s realities. Countries need partners aligned behind national plans, not new experiments or parallel models.

The Bangkok CTA outlines four areas for coordinated action:

Professionalize and integrate CHWs
Secure sustainable financing
Use technology that supports CHW practice
Build trust and inclusion in fragile settings

This CTA is not another round of commitments. It is a direction-setting moment where the risk of losing progress is real. The work ahead is not to launch something new, but to finish the job of what we know works.

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