Country Partnership Competition

Partnering with HealthLearn to expand free newborn care training to new countries

Organizations based in Uganda, Tanzania, Liberia, Ghana, or Sierra Leone are invited to apply. Exceptional applications from organizations based in Ethiopia, Rwanda, or South Africa may also be considered.

This is a highly competitive opportunity with substantial benefits for mission-oriented partner organizations.

The opportunity

HealthLearn is seeking a small number of Country Partners to lead the national rollout of the Newborn Care Foundations online course. This is not a standard implementation contract. We are selecting organizations that want to co-own success in their country – partners who can move systems, navigate institutions, and translate a high-quality digital course into real national reach.

HealthLearn develops, hosts, and continuously improves the course. The Country Partner leads everything that makes the course work locally: Ministry of Health and accreditation approvals, credibility, dissemination, and momentum.

About HealthLearn

HealthLearn is a nonprofit organization providing free, mobile-optimized, accredited online training for frontline health workers in primary health care settings. Our flagship Newborn Care Foundations course focuses on essential, life-saving practices and is designed for rapid uptake by nurses, midwives, and community-based providers. In less than two years, over 60,000 people across Nigeria and Zambia have completed this course. HealthLearn also hosts other courses for its nonprofit partners – the engaging, practice-oriented courses on our online and mobile-first platform have been completed over 100,000 times.

The course has already demonstrated high completion rates and strong learning gains, and we’ve also directly observed improved clinical practice among birth attendants who take the course. HealthLearn has already had a huge impact – we estimate our program to be 28-151 times more cost-effective than GiveWell’s benchmark for highly impactful charities. We are now focused on expanding to additional countries working with trusted local leaders and partners.

What success looks like

By partnering with HealthLearn, Country Partners will:

  • Secure national approval and CPD accreditation for key health worker cadres

  • Ensure the course reflects current national guidelines and clinical practice

  • Drive meaningful uptake among frontline health workers quickly after launch

  • Establish a credible, durable presence as HealthLearn’s partner within national systems

What we’re selecting for

Applications will be evaluated based on:

  • Speed: Ability to secure approvals and launch quickly

  • Leverage: Access to decision-makers, councils, or distribution channels others lack

  • Execution: Evidence of experience navigating CPD approval processes

  • Judgment: Practical understanding of how change actually happens in your country

  • Ownership: Clear indications that success in this specific project is a high priority aligned with your organization’s mission

Due to capacity constraints, we will select partners in no more than two countries for this round of expansion. If you choose to apply, be sure to convince us your organization is uniquely positioned to champion this course. 

The partnership model

Country Partners serve as HealthLearn’s primary in-country partner and lead coordination with national stakeholders.

Core challenges the partner will navigate

Approvals & accreditation

  • Lead all in-country engagement required to secure CPD accreditation and relevant government or regulatory approvals

  • Manage review process with the regulatory body for nurses and midwives, including covering any associated fees

  • Navigate Ministry of Health engagement as appropriate

Local relevance 

  • Provide up-to-date national clinical guidelines

  • Identify and recruit nationally recognized subject-matter experts

  • Coordinate expert review of course content within agreed timelines

Dissemination and uptake 

  • Design and execute a dissemination strategy that works in your context

  • Actively cascade the course through ministries, councils, training institutions, and widely used health worker networks (including digital channels)

  • Demonstrate early uptake and engagement among frontline providers

  • Provide HealthLearn with sufficient detail on how CPD can be claimed for license renewal to support accurate user-facing guidance

HealthLearn’s role

HealthLearn will:

  • Produce and maintain a high-quality initial course draft aligned with national guidelines

  • Incorporate all approved revisions from expert and regulatory review

  • Manage platform hosting, quality assurance, and learner support

  • Provide a live dashboard with aggregated, non-identifiable data on course uptake, completion, and learning outcomes

  • Ensure the course remains free and accessible to health workers

  • Run appropriate social media marketing activities in the partner country

Benefits to Country Partners

  • National visibility: Partner branding on the course landing page and certificates

  • Leadership positioning: Recognition as the national partner leading newborn care training

  • Insights: Dashboards with real-time aggregated data on course uptake and learning trends

  • Future priority: Preference for partnership on future HealthLearn course launches in-country

  • Impact: Direct contribution to improving frontline newborn care practices at scale

Eligibility and requirements

Applicants must demonstrate:

  • Legal registration and strong reputation in the focus country

  • Experience securing CPD accreditation or comparable professional approvals

  • Strong relationships with key national-level stakeholders

  • organizational leadership that is committed to execution and impact

Note: for compliance reasons, we can only work with organizations that have certain types of legal structures for this RFP. We will assess your organization’s eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

Budget

  • Up to US $4,000 for expert review, initial accreditation, and launch

  • Up to US $500 per subsequent year to maintain accreditation and key relationships

Budget note: due to international legal and compliance requirements and project scope, HealthLearn cannot provide grant funding or contract payments in relation to this RFP directly to professional councils, government ministries, or other governmental or parastatal entities. In line with industry norms, we can pay standard and published application fees, with appropriate documentation. These compliance requirements exist to ensure proper oversight and transparency. We would still welcome applications for no-cost partnerships from such entities. These partnerships would still be structured around reviewing, accrediting, and disseminating the Newborn Care Foundations course.

Application process

Applicants will complete a short application form, including a project plan and other requirements (approximately 120 minutes).

Please review this guide which summarizes the documents and long-form questions required during the application process. Preparing these materials in advance will help you complete the application efficiently.

Selected organizations may be invited to ≥1 interview with HealthLearn team members, and additional information may be requested for due diligence.