The Capacity and Leadership Strengthening (CAL) unit supports Member States in the Western Pacific Region to develop a future-ready health workforce and leadership that can accelerate progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). CAL focuses on strengthening individual, institutional, and system-level capacity by promoting lifelong learning, leadership development, and competency-based approaches tailored to country priorities and emerging health challenges.

To achieve this, CAL designs and delivers quality and innovative capacity and leadership development programmes for health workers, managers, and policymakers; revitalizes and sustains regional platforms and initiatives such as fellowships, leadership programmes, and digital learning networks; and cultivates regional and country-level ecosystems in collaboration with WHO country offices, headquarters, the WHO Academy, and key partners. CAL also supports Member States in strengthening in-service learning systems.

In addition, CAL enhances the impact and uptake of WHO’s normative products by strengthening evidence-informed capacity-building approaches and coordinating the implementation of recommendations from expert groups, while ensuring the quality and relevance of guidance across the Region.