The critical importance of strengthening the health workforce as a strategy to improve the performance of health services system has been widely recognized in recent years. The pressing need for better data and information to inform policy development led to the creation of observatories to collect and analyse data on the health workforce and to advocate and make proposals for more rational approaches to its development. The objective of this paper is to take stock of the experience of Human Resources for Health (HRH) observatories. It presents a brief overview of the “movement” of HRH observatories, what they are, how they are organized, what is their intended and actual contribution to policy-making, and what lessons can be learned from experiences in the various regions. It discusses the conditions for their success, and the challenges they face in pursuing their objective of shaping national, regional, and global HRH agendas.