The RAISE Health Initiative

Project Activities

Promoting An Enabling  Environment at the Global and Local Levels

The Evidence Project is part of a five-year USAID project to improve the health of female garment workers in Cambodia. It is facilitating policy changes at the factory, corporate, and government levels to create an environment that increases access to family planning and reproductive health services. The project builds on RAISE Health’s global efforts to promote strong health policies for companies and their supply chains.  Our global work includes:

• Partnering with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) through its HERproject initiative, RAISE Health has developed voluntary Workplace Health Facility Guidelines and Management Benchmarks that adapt best public health practices to the commercial workplace.
• Collaborating with the UN Global Compact in developing its “Call to Action on Women’s Health” for corporate members and producing webinars that highlight the business case for action.
• Engaging human rights and global health organizations to advocate for stronger corporate policies on health and better workplace practices in supply chain companies in lower income countries.

Strengthening the Management and Quality of Workplace Health Facilities

RAISE Health has developed a model of health system strengthening in factory health services.  The focus is on enabling workplace management to supervise health functions as they do any other productive activity.  This work included:

• Pilot-testing the model in a Haitian factory, with HRA Pharma Foundation, to build the factory’s human resource capacity to manage its health staff and infirmary, instituting clinical best practices in the health clinic, and developing a proactive, preventive role for nurses, including promotion of family planning.
• Replicating elements of the model and findings from Haiti at an Egyptian supplier factor to Levi Strauss & Co. as part of its Worker Well-Being program. This activity was implemented by BSR’s HERproject and its local partner the Egyptian Family Planning Association. RAISE is partnering with LS&Co. to help disseminate effective workplace management practices for health throughout is supply chain.

Increasing Access to Health Education Materials at the Workplace

Bayer Pharmaceuticals and the Evidence Project are adapting existing family planning and reproductive health materials targeted to workers that can be accessed online and printed onsite by workplace health staff or management. Bayer and RAISE Health will be collaborating with other organizations to expand the package of health materials. This activity is also linked to promoting policies that expand worker access to health services and information.