Several developed country NGOs provide cleft surgery in resource-poor countries. The author presents eight years experience with Operation Smile missions in Belarus, Morocco, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Paraguay and Ethiopia demonstrating the importance of an organisational structure that enables local communities to achieve a sustainable programme of high standards. Initially, in-country representatives assess local burden-of-disease; facilities and supplies; and presence of qualified personnel. Missions include screening, and 4-5 days surgery with with postoperative care.

This paper examines the processes whereby health systems researchers, members of the Connecting health Research in Africa and Ireland Consortium (ChRAIC), worked with national policy makers and knowledge users in seven African countries

In response to the crisis, the Academy of Health Sciences (AHS) was established in 2005 by the Federal Ministry of Health (Sudan) to scale up university education of nurses, midwives and paramedics. Over five years, the AHS enrolled around 18.000 students through a decentralized approach based on branches in the 15 states of Sudan. Expansion was enabled through utilizing existing premises of vocational schools, and using health facilities and health providers to boost infrastructure and teaching faculty. Policies of subsidized education, provision of training jobs and quota system of intake helped in securing adequate number of qualified applicants and geographical balance.

This paper outlines and presents lessons learned from a PhD programme within Connecting health Research in Africa and Ireland Consortium (ChRAIC) - a health systems research capacity development collaboration. The PhD component is a partnership of the National University of Ireland, Galway, RCSI and Trinity College Dublin.

This paper outlines and presents lessons learned from a PhD programme within Connecting health Research in
Africa and Ireland Consortium (ChRAIC) - a health systems research capacity development collaboration. The PhD
component is a partnership of the National University of Ireland, Galway, RCSI and Trinity College Dublin.