COVID-19: Operational Planning Guidelines and COVID-19 Partners Platform to support country preparedness and response (OpenWHO)

COVID-19: Operational Planning Guidelines and COVID-19 Partners Platform to support country preparedness and response (OpenWHO)

In order to assist UN country teams in scaling up country preparedness and response to COVID-19, WHO has developed these learning modules as a companion to the Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response.

The training is intended:

  • For UN country teams (UNCTs)
  • For other relevant stakeholders, including partners, donors and civil society
  • To support national readiness and preparedness for COVID-19
  • To help countries increase their capacity to respond to COVID-19
  • To increase international coordination for response and preparedness
  • To streamline the process of coordinating resources and assessing country preparedness level

This learning package consists of 3 modules with videos and downloadable presentations.

Overview:This 3-module learning package introduces the context for the need for a coordinated global response plan to the COVID-19 outbreak. It provides the required guidance to implement the Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response. These planning guidelines describe priority steps and actions to be included in countries’ preparedness and response plans across the major areas of public health preparedness and response. This is aligned with the previously published COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP). By the end of this course, the appointed UNCT lead planners and relevant partners should be able to assess and fill in capability gaps to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Key learning objectives:

  • Be able to educate yourself and others about the importance of operationalizing the SPRP for the COVID-19 outbreak using the Operational Planning Guidelines
  • Be able to describe the 8 major pillars of public health preparedness and response and initial actions to be taken by the UN country teams

-Be able to access the full set of actions, performance indicators and resources needed to conduct the preparedness level assessment using the COVID-19 Partners Platform for country preparedness and response plans
Course duration: Approximately 1 hour for Modules 1 and 2 and another hour for Module 3.
Certificates: A Record of Achievement will be available to participants who score 80% or higher in the cumulative course assessment for both Modules 1 and 2. Module 3 is free of any certification.

Course contents

Module 1: Mission and purpose of this program (incl. COVID-19 knowledge):
This module provides a description of the purpose and context for this learning package, leadership words and relevant COVID-19 knowledge.

Module 2: Country-level preparedness and response:
This module provides an introduction to Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response, and access to relevant information and documentation.

Module 3: Pillars of the public health response:
This module is technical deep dive into each of the 8 pillars of the public health response as described by the Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Clinical Care Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (OpenWHO) OpenWHO
World Health Organization

Clinical Care Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (OpenWHO)

Welcome to the Clinical Care Training for Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI). This course includes content on clinical management of patients with a severe acute respiratory infection. It is intended for clinicians who are working in intensive care units (ICUs) in low and middle-income countries and managing adult and pediatric patients with severe forms of acute respiratory infection (SARI), including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and septic shock.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Introduction to Dental Medicine (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Dental Medicine (Coursera)

The mouth is the window into human health. This course provides an overview of dental medicine to engage, educate, excite and assist you in improving the oral health of your patients and members of your community. We will review topics in dental medicine including scope of the field, what to expect in function, and some of the many ways that dysfunction may present for different patients.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Air Pollution – a Global Threat to our Health (Coursera) Coursera
University of Copenhagen

Air Pollution – a Global Threat to our Health (Coursera)

We all have to breathe to live. But the air we breathe is polluted both outdoors and indoors. Each year, this pollution costs 7 million lives across the globe – and a lot of suffering. 1 in 8 deaths is due to air pollution. This course will provide you with an introduction to the most recent research in the field of health effects of air pollution as well as a broader understanding of sources and spread of air pollution and what we should do about it.

Aug 10th 2026
3 Weeks
ePROTECT Respiratory Infections (OpenWHO) OpenWHO
World Health Organization

ePROTECT Respiratory Infections (OpenWHO)

All personnel responding to outbreaks of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) need to have the basic knowledge and skills to mount an effective response. They need to understand what ARIs are, how they are transmitted, how to assess the risk of infection and to understand basic hygiene measures to protect themselves. This learning package consists of 4 modules with videos and downloadable presentations.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Violence Against Healthcare (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Violence Against Healthcare (Coursera)

At the global level, there are many countries marked by violence affecting health care. The 'Health care in danger' project aims to establish practical measures and recommendations that can be implemented on the ground by policy-makers, humanitarian organizations and health professionals. In view of the multiplicity of actors and latitudes concerned, it is essential to be able to make available the tools needed to make informed decisions, guide behaviour in high-risk areas and provide everyone the means to create and optimize the dialogue between humanitarian professionals and health on the one hand and relevant authorities or other armed actors.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
La Solución del Conflicto Ético (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

La Solución del Conflicto Ético (Coursera)

En este curso los participantes lograrán identificar y tomar decisiones sobre casos clínicos con conflictos éticos en el área de la salud por medio de la aplicación del razonamiento ético desde una perspectiva universal y considerando los aspectos médicos y éticos, el marco jurídico y la decisión ética.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Foundational Skills for Communicating About Health (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Foundational Skills for Communicating About Health (Coursera)

Effective communication is a core skill that nearly every health professional will need and use during their careers. Yet, few health professionals receive even basic training in how to design communications to be clear and successful. As “foundational skills,” the content in this course can be applied to both oral and written communication, within and beyond health.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Essentials of Global Health (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

Essentials of Global Health (Coursera)

Essentials of Global Health is a comprehensive introduction to global health. It is meant to introduce you to this topic in well-structured, clear and easy to understand ways. Much of the course will focus on five questions: What do people get sick, disabled and die from; Why do they suffer from these conditions? Which people are most affected? Why should we care about such concerns? What can be done to address key health issues, hopefully at least cost, as fast as possible, and in sustainable ways?

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Systems Thinking In Public Health (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Systems Thinking In Public Health (Coursera)

This course provides an introduction to systems thinking and systems models in public health. Problems in public health and health policy tend to be complex with many actors, institutions and risk factors involved. If an outcome depends on many interacting and adaptive parts and actors the outcome cannot be analyzed or predicted with traditional statistical methods. Systems thinking is a core skill in public health and helps health policymakers build programs and policies that are aware of and prepared for unintended consequences.

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Curanderismo: Traditional Healing Using Plants (Coursera) Coursera
University of New Mexico

Curanderismo: Traditional Healing Using Plants (Coursera)

As one of four courses on Curanderismo, the art of Hispanic/Latino traditional medicine, this course focuses specifically on the use of plants in traditional healing. As an educational and cultural platform, this course will share the history, influences, and contributions of traditional medicine. Trained traditional healers will share their knowledge of the healing properties of plants commonly found in the Southwestern United States and Mexico through practical applications that can still be used today.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Autism Spectrum Disorder (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Davis

Autism Spectrum Disorder (Coursera)

Understanding the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their implications for behavior, learning and the ability to process information is critical for anyone working or interacting with those on the spectrum -- educators, clinicians, counselors, therapists, medical staff, family and employers. This course will give you a fundamental understanding of what ASD is, how it is diagnosed, the primary areas of impairment, and why prevalence is increasing.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks