In July the government of South Sudan reached a significant milestone. Following support from People that Deliver (PtD) and QualiMED Africa Consortium, led by Dr Isaac Mulwa and various development partners including UNICEF, the Ministry of Health (MoH) took ownership of the supply chain management (SCM) professionalisation implementation plan.
This means the government, committed to developing the capacity of its health SCM workforce, will now begin implementing a plan to enlarge the country’s pool of qualified and skilled health SCM professionals. At the centre of their approach lies PtD’s SCM professionalisation framework, which lays out a methodical five-step approach to guide governments on their journeys.
South Sudan’s health supply chain system often faces significant challenges, such as stockouts, wastage, poor infrastructure and inefficient distribution, owing to the lack of a skilled and qualified health supply chain workforce.
How South Sudan will develop the health SCM workforce
The comprehensive plan provides a roadmap to mobilise the necessary resources to finance SCM professionalisation activities, and guides the planning of coordination and advocacy efforts to ensure the success of these activities.
Activities include embedding health SCM education in universities to grow the pool of skilled and qualified professionals, developing accredited training programmes and establishing a national health SCM policy framework that promotes gender equity and supports ongoing professional development.
The MoH is convening a health SCM taskforce, which ensures all key stakeholders – from the education sector, government, private sector and health SC organisations – are aligned with national priorities and working towards a common goal. Such a taskforce is necessary as boosting workforce capacity will require a multitude of actors to work together.
Implementation of the county’s SCM professionalisation agenda will begin in earnest in January 2026.
PtD lays the foundations
PtD and the supporting partners began providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health in South Sudan in 2024 with the aim of advancing the professionalisation of health supply chain management.
According to Wilson Chandomba, managing consultant of CMCOMMS and a key member of the technical assistance team supporting South Sudan’s Ministry of Health, “Our role was to fully understand the South Sudanese context and identify the barriers hindering supply chain management professionalisation—so that we could build a strong foundation for implementing a fit-for-purpose professionalisation approach.”
This technical assistance covered several key areas and involved a thorough analysis and mapping of stakeholders within the health supply chain to grasp the country’s health landscape. This process identified various stakeholders, their needs and levels of influence and secured their commitment to the professionalisation journey. Validation workshops, held in March and April, allowed the partners to present the key findings from their qualitative research.
This step was essential in ensuring that the results were aligned with the country’s needs and priorities. At the workshops the next steps were defined as were resource requirements, timelines and the responsibilities necessary for implementing the health SCM professionalisation activities.
These efforts enhance workforce development by defining the skills, knowledge and required standards in education, certification and continuous development. The professionalisation approach will lead to the development of accurate job descriptions, a defined career pathway and will create demand from government and national institutions for these skills.
By professionalising SCM, organisations can improve efficiency, reduce risks and enhance the performance of their supply chain processes. It also contributes to the recognition of supply chain management as a critical and strategic function.
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