The six articles published in this thematic series present a range of experiences which take into account governance
issues upfront in addressing the HRH crisis. The articles report partly on governance in relation to developing a joint vision, building adherence and strengthening accountability, and partly on governance with respect to planning, implementation, and monitoring. They cover elements related to two out of the five governance areas defined at the KIT HRH 2010 conference: “development of a vision and policies for HRH” and “aid effectiveness”. Other governance issues warrant attention as well. For instance, a number of case studies described in the review article [3] highlighted that HRH policy formulation and implementation often lack transparency and suffer from corruption, and more insight into effective mechanisms and instruments for addressing these challenges is required. More attention also needs to be paid to documenting experiences covered by the areas “regulatory mechanisms”, “participation and voice” and “governance in competency development in higher education for public health”.