Dear Colleagues / Friends, It is my pleasure to feedback some important outcomes and information from the 7th GHWA Board which took place in Ouro Preto, Brazil from 24-25 November. We had a very successful meeting, with excellent participation and exceptional organization and welcome from our Brazilian hosts. The event was extremely productive. Our commitment to rapid and effective resolution of the health workforce crisis has been underlined through the Board endorsement of 'Moving Forward from Kampala: Strategic Priorities and Directions 2009 to 2011'. The strategic document builds on the increased political and financial commitment in response to the human resources crisis, especially since the first Global Forum on Human Resources for Health convened by the Alliance in Kampala, Uganda in March 2008. The Alliance Board approved the strategic document, as well as its accompanying three-year workplan and budget for the Alliance Secretariat. Underlining the Alliance vision that 'All people everywhere will have access to a skilled, motivated and supported health worker, within a robust health system', the strategic directions and priorities 2009-2011 confirmed the two main objectives within which the Alliance operates. These are: 1. To enable country leadership in national planning and management to improve the human resources for health (HRH) situation and respond to shortages of skilled and motivated health workers. 2. To address global policy challenges through evidence-informed actions to tackle trans-national problems in areas such as insufficient and inefficient use of resources, fiscal restraints on health sector spending, migration, priority research and cooperation among all stakeholders. Working towards the achievement of these objectives, the Alliance will work towards accelerating action in countries through continuing and increasing advocacy, building synergy between partners, brokering knowledge and monitoring the effectiveness of the interventions. Separate strategy frameworks in the aforementioned focus areas were presented to and endorsed by the Board. In terms of Alliance Governance, the Board also elected Ambassador Sigrun Møgedal as Board Chair for an additional 18-month period through June 2010. And, in light of the upcoming presentation of the International Code of Practice for the international recruitment of health personnel to the WHO Executive Board in January 2009, the Alliance Board also discussed and endorsed a position statement on the issue of migration and the International Code. This can be accessed on the Alliance web site and is attached here. The Secretariat will work with the Board members to begin the operationalisation and implementation of the 2009-2011 workplan. The strategic documents and workplan are currently going through final editing stages and will be available on the Alliance web site, and circulated to you, as soon as they are complete. As a first example of putting 2009-2011 activities into action, we are delighted to announce that in the coming weeks we will be launching the 'revamped' Alliance web site. With a new look, feel and site structure, as well as increased and improved content, we hope this will be a useful source and improved communications channel for GHWA members, partners and friends . Your feedback and suggestions for further improvement will be greatly appreciated. For this and all the Alliance work moving forwards, we welcome and value your continued support and collaboration. Yours sincerely Dr Mubashar Sheikh Executive Director Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA)