African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET)

In 2005, African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) was formally established as a non-profit organization with its Secretariat in Kampala, Uganda. The mission of AFENET is to improve the health of people in Africa, through the strengthening and expansion of applied epidemiology and laboratory capacity in Africa in partnership with Ministries of Health, non-governmental organizations, international agencies, private sector entities and other public sector health agencies. AFENET currently has five member programs namely: (i) Ghana Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), (ii) Kenya Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), (iii) Uganda FETP, Makerere University School of Public Health, (iv) Zimbabwe FETP, University of Zimbabwe, Department of Community Medicine and (v) The Field Epidemiology Training Program of South Africa. Associate members include the Tanzania MoH, the Government of South Sudan MoH. The Kampala based Secretariat is currently run by three persons and is governed by an eight person Board of Directors. AFENET is currently funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a recently established organization, AFENET has a number of institutional needs to address in order to ensure its effectiveness and sustainability in the long term. In order to improve the functioning of the Secretariat in their coordination role to steer AFENET in attaining its objectives, it has been deemed necessary to design, document and set up systems that ensure transparent use and accountability of funds, together with all the operational manuals with inbuilt internal control procedures, policies, techniques and mechanisms. The systems and manuals developed shall clearly state the different roles of the different players in the day to day running of the Secretariat operations.