Launch of Online Course on Results-Based Management (RBM)
Representatives from our Member States
Colleagues,
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all of you joining us from across the Region and beyond.
Results-Based Management (RBM) changes a simple but fundamental question. Instead of asking what we did, it asks what changed because of what we did.
That shift, from activity to outcome, is what brings us here today.
RBM is, at its core, a discipline of honesty.
It asks us to be precise about what we are trying to achieve, rigorous about whether we are achieving it, and willing to change course when the evidence says we must.
In a period of tightening resources and expanding health challenges, that discipline is not optional. It is how we justify every dollar spent and every decision made.
WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14) places RBM at the centre of how the organization plans, monitors and reports.
The Banyan Framework for Health and Well-Being in the South-East Asia Region (2026–2028) carries that commitment further, insisting that results are not outputs counted in spreadsheets, but change experienced by countries and communities.
Across programmes and levels of the Organization, the Banyan Framework calls on us to work in a more integrated, adaptive and collaborative manner to achieve country-level results.
It emphasizes clear priorities and measurable results, integrated approaches and strong partnerships, and a culture of accountability, learning and data-driven adaptation.
RBM is the engine that brings the Banyan Framework to life, translating strategic intent into measurable results and keeping us focused on impact.
Central to this work is the Theory of Change, a discipline of explicitly mapping how and why our actions are expected to lead to results.
Together, RBM and Theory of Change carry that shift, from activity to outcome, and from outcome to impact, while giving us the means to course-correct when the evidence says our assumptions were wrong.
They strengthen accountability and institutional learning across all levels of the Organization.
None of this is possible without capacity and expertise. That is why this course exists.
Developed in response to strong demand from WHO staff and Member States, the comprehensive online RBM course on the WHO iLearn platform is a practical resource to deepen your understanding of core RBM concepts.
It will build the skills to apply practical tools such as Theory of Change, and strengthen results-orientated planning, management, monitoring, and reporting.
Today’s session starts that learning journey.
Let me close with this: RBM is not an additional layer of work. It is a better way of working.
And it itself works when we take it seriously, not as a reporting requirement, but as a way of thinking.
That is the shift this course is designed to support, and it is the shift the Region needs.
I thank our panelists, participants, and organizers for bringing this initiative to life, and I wish you all a productive learning experience.
Thank you.