The Regional Core Competency Framework for Public Health (RCCFPH) is an instrument that defines the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to public health that the health workforce as a whole should possess. This tool has been developed in response to a need in the Americas for a simple tool that facilitates the development of excellence, collaboration and consistency, taking into account the vast diversity of the workforce and varied public health infrastructures and systems that exist in the Americas region. This framework complements other key strategies of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations (UN), such as Primary Health Care (PHC), the Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).