At the multilateral level, the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA), is a partnership hosted and administered by the World Health Organization, provides a forum for governments, NGOs, international organizations, donors, academic institutions, professional associations and workers to search for solutions to the current "crisis" in the health workforce. 

Health workers are the heart and soul of health systems. And yet, the world is faced with a chronic shortage. A new progress report- A Universal Truth: No Health Without a Workforce (2013),estimates a global shortage of 7.2 million health workers, with 83 countries facing a health worker crisis. The relative shortages of doctors, nurses and midwives are still most acute in sub‐ Saharan Africa. This is currently one of the major obstacles to achieving the MDGs and  other  international  health  goals,  including  universal  health  coverage.

TheAlliance  was created in 2006 as a common platform for action to address the crisis. The Alliance is a partnership of national governments, civil society, international agencies, finance institutions, researchers, educators and professional associations dedicated to identifying, implementing and advocating for solutions. Since its inception in 2006, the Alliance has acted as a global convener mobilizing worldwide attention to the human resources for health (HRH) crisis and generating political will and action for positive change.