The WHO Country Office in Eritrea held the goals week in February 2019 organized as a retreat in the beautiful historic port of Massawa. It was a perfect opportunity to take a step back from the day-to-day work of the office and spend some time thinking about the big picture of the possible way forward for implementation of the GPW13 as a team.

The main objective of the retreat was to bring all staff together and discuss the work plan implementation status of the 2018. It was also a time to refresh the team, get everyone united around one mission, set goals for the upcoming year 2019 in line to GPW13, and build bonds between team members.

The retreat was officially opened by Dr Josephine Namboze, WHO Representative for Eritrea. She clearly pointed out the objectives of the retreat and gave a detailed presentation on GPW13. In addition, she emphasized on the shift from processes towards focusing on results. She also called upon the staff to work towards  new and innovative ways of working to deliver results. She also made a pledge to implement the recommendations of the retreat in the coming six months for it is the end of the biennium 2018/2019.

Some of the main activities undertaken at the retreat were as follows: All technical officers made presentations on the 2018 achievements, challenges, lessons learned, 2019 plans and the strategies on the way forward. In addition to the technical updates, there were also presentations on several significant administrative issues, social activities and healthy competitions.

Furthermore, it was an occasion used in electing new executives for the staff Association.  The outgoing staff association executive members presented their report to the participants.

In her closing remarks, Dr Namboze thanked each and every staff for their commitment to attain the expected results of 2018. Moreover, she encouraged the staff members to work harder to develop their careers especially as relates to new international opportunities. She emphasized the key pillars that will underpin the work of WHO especially as relates to the GPW13.