Understanding HRH recruitment in post-conflict settings: an analysis of central-level policies and processes in Timor-Leste (1999–2018)

This paper is an output of ReBUILD’s research project Understanding human resources for health recruitment and deployment in post-conflict settings.

You can access the full paper here.

Maria Paola Bertone, Joao S. Martins, Sara M. Pereira, Tim Martineau and Alvaro Alonso-Garbayo

Human Resources for Health 2018 16:66 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-018-0325-5

The study explores, from a central-level perspective, how the human resources for health (HRH) recruitment policies changed in Timor-Leste from 1999-2018, the drivers of change and their contribution to rebuilding an appropriate health workforce after conflict.

The study provides critical insights to improve understanding of HRH policy development and effective practices in a post-conflict setting but also looking at the longer-term evolution. An issue that emerges across the HRH policy-making phases is the difficulty of reconciling the technocratic with the social, cultural and political concerns. Additionally, while this study illuminates processes and dynamics at central level, further research is needed from the decentralised perspective on aspects, such as deployment, motivation and career paths, which are under-regulated at central level.