Core Group

Vision: A world of healthy communities, where no woman or child dies of preventable causes.

Mission: To foster collaborative action and learning to improve and expand community-focused public health practices for underserved populations around the world.

CORE Group emerged organically, in 1997, when a group of health professionals from non-governmental development organizations saw the value of sharing knowledge and ideas about how to best help children survive.

Governments worldwide are committing resources and political will to achieving Millennium Development Goals that call for reducing child deaths by two-thirds and maternal deaths by three-fourths between 1990 and 2015. CORE Group is part of the force that is making these targets a reality through its community-focused health programs with its member organizations and partners.

CORE Group works to fulfill that vision by working with its 50+ member organizations and network of partners to generate collaborative action and learning to improve and expand community-focused public health practices for underserved populations around the world. We give particular emphasis to women of reproductive age and children under five because they are the most vulnerable to death and illness from poverty and disease.

We believe that a viable community health system combined with quality  health care is critical to meeting the health needs of communities around the world. Our community- focused health approach embodies many of the principles espoused in the Alma Ata Declaration of Primary Health Care.

How We Advance Community Health

1. CORE Group convenes and expands the CORE Group Community Health Network, Working Groups, and Practitioner Academy in order to share and create knowledge, build partnerships, and improve skills of the global public health workforce.
2. CORE Group develops and diffuses innovative cross-cutting community health program strategies, tools and best practices in order to overcome barriers to program coverage, quality, equity, and sustainability.
3. CORE Group catalyzes and supports global health initiatives at the country level in order to unify community health efforts for greater impact and learning.
4. CORE Group advocates for effective community-focused health approaches within global and regional policy arenas in order to mainstream community health in international policy and practice.

CORE Group is also the implementing organization for the USAID Child Survival and Health Network Program.  A recent evaluation of the program for USAID revealed that CORE Group's management of the program:

“..is an evolving model for PVO collaboration, a successful community of practice that demonstrates the ability of USAID and PVOs to partner in expanding the quality and reach of their global health programs.”  

Read the full evaluation or the summary.

Interested in Becoming a Member?
History of CORE Group
CORE Group Mission, Vision, and Values
Strategic Plan 2009-2013
Strategic Framework