.png?sfvrsn=6d0e27cd_1 "Partnership for Change - v7 (1)")
Speakers
Alicia Burnett
Midwife, Editor in Chief at the Student Midwife
Alicia is a newly qualified midwife based in London. She is also Editor-in-Chief of The Student Midwife, an online journal edited by student midwives and uses this role to elevate student midwives’ voices and promote the midwifery profession. Alicia advocates for cultural safety and competence in midwifery education and is passionate about finding solutions for maternal health inequalities in the UK.
Aminu Magashi Garba
Coordinator & Founder, Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN)
Dr Aminu Magashi Garba with over 23 years’ experience in development work, is the founder and coordinator of the Africa Health Budget Network. He is the Global Co-convener of the Community of Practitioners on Accountability and Social Action in Health (COPASAH). He is a member of the Global Action Plan (GAP) for SDG3 Civil Society Advisory Group and a former civil society representative to the Global Financing Facility Investors Group. He is an alternate board member of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. In Nigeria. He chairs the Leadership committee of the Nigeria’s RMNCAEH+N Multi-stakeholder Partnership Coordination Platform. He is the publisher of an online newspaper – www.healthreporters.info
Amir Hagos
Senior Advisor, Global Financing Facility ( GFF) and Former Minister of Health, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Dr. Amir Hagos is passionate about quality, accessible, affordable and equitable health care as a fundamental human right and a non negotiable moral imperative. He has served in different positions both in government and for private philanthropic organisations. His most recent assignment in the government was as Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Under his tenure at the Ministry of Health in various capacities, he led the health sector to implement the transformation plan by pioneering new initiatives and setting ambitious goals including devising innovative approaches and executing major multisectoral collaboration to expand health care access to tens of millions of Ethiopians. These efforts have improved the population’s health status and health system performance in the country. He holds an MD from Addis Ababa University and MPH in University of Western cape.
Ann Biddlecom
Director of International Research, Guttmacher Institute
Ann Biddlecom is Director of International Research at the Guttmacher Institute. She has over 25 years’ research experience in sexual and reproductive health and behaviour, including contraception, childbearing preferences, abortion and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. She has held research positions in the Population Division of the United Nations, the University of Michigan and the Population Council. Dr Biddlecom is a member of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, the Population Association of America and the Union of African Population Studies. She holds a doctorate in sociology (with a focus on demography) from Brown University.
Anuradha Gupta
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Anuradha Gupta is Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Since joining Gavi in 2015, Anuradha has led efforts to put equity and gender at the centre of Gavi’s programmatic planning and support to countries. Anuradha has also helped to improve country ownership and leadership of Gavi-supported programmes while enhancing accountability for results. In 2019, Gavi received the prestigious Lasker Bloomberg Public Service Award for providing sustained access to childhood vaccines in the world’s poorest countries, saving millions of lives. Anuradha served previously as Mission Director of the National Health Mission of India, where she ran the largest public health programme in the world with an annual budget of US$ 3.5 billion. A passionate and influential advocate of women, young girls and children, Anuradha played a leading role in India’s efforts to eradicate polio transmission, reduce maternal and child mortality and revitalize primary health care.
Bentoe Tehoungue
Director of the Family Health Division, Ministry of Health, Liberia
Bentoe Tehoungue is the Director of Family Health at the Republic of Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Prior to her role as Director, she worked as the H6 Program Coordinator for the World Health Organization and served in various health system management roles for over fifteen years in Liberia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Bentoe has a Masters of Public Health from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Bruno Bitali
Vitalk
Graduated in Business Administration from the University of São Paulo, Bruno gained experience at Nestlé, Dextron Consulting, Rocket Internet and Pitzi, in 3 countries: Brazil, Germany and Australia. Today he is a project manager at Vitalk, a startup that uses technology to promote mental health. By interacting with a creative and friendly chatbot called Viki, users engage in conversations and learn techniques on how to better cope with issues such as anxiety, stress, and relationships. Some of the impact projects Bruno leads include the internationalization of the app to Malawi and Mexico, as well as a strategic partnership with the largest drugstore company in Latin America.
Camila Fernández
Travesti-Trans Advocate; SheDecides 25x25 Young Leader, Argentina
Camila Fernández is a Travesti-Trans advocate and a SheDecides 25x25 Young Leader who is based in Quilmes, Argentina. She is also a member of the Local March of LGBTQ+ Pride Commission in Quilmes.
Catherine McCarthy
Medical Aid Films and PMNCH
Catherine is currently the CEO of Medical Aid Films - she previously worked at the BBC as a commissioner and TV executive. She has a background in educational broadcasting. She set up and ran BBC Learning Zone and co-commissioned many award winning BBC series, including some of the biggest BBC landmark programmes. She is passionate about using media to make a difference. Catherine has also worked for BBC Media Action, where she was a Senior Adviser supporting teams around the world to produce high quality content, including an award winning multimedia project in Bangladesh, which transformed the lives of millions. Prior to the BBC she worked for VSO and SHELTER. She is originally a trainer teacher. Catherine is currently supporting the PMNCH team on the PMNCH Self Care Video series.
Christine Keveke
Amref Health Africa Kenya - Hemafuse, a health solution for blood shortage in the wake of COVID-19
Christine Kaveke has 10 years of experience in innovations and partnerships management. She is the project lead for the Hemafuse project under health systems strengthening at Amref Health Africa Kenya. As a project lead for Hemafuse, she has led the implementation and scale up of Hemafuse especially during the COVID 19 pandemic period. She has expertise and training in the Partnerships Accelerator 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, Policy Advocacy training, Business Models creation for Social Enterprises. She promotes strategic public-private partnerships towards achieving national access to quality healthcare by maximizing the contribution of the private sector and innovations in health. She has a proven record of business development, resource mobilization, and partnership building in a competitive landscape. Record of accomplishment in successful networking as well as effective interactions with donors and collaborating agencies, including private, public, government and non-profit entities. She has knowledge in development of new health technologies, product development, and implementation of programs in low resource settings.
David Imbago Jácome
Technical Programs Officer, CORE Group
David, born in Ecuador, has almost ten years of experience working with civil society organizations related to health and youth engagement. He was President of the National Association of Medical Students in Ecuador and General Assistant for the Americas Region at the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations. As a medical doctor, he worked for a year in a rural community in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest in a primary care facility, working with indigenous communities in remote locations. Currently, David works as Technical Programs Officer at CORE Group, is a member of the International Youth Health Organization, and is the Chair of the Adolescents and Youth Constituency of PMNCH. David holds an MD from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and is also finishing his Master of Public Health at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.
Dr. Arachu Castro
Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Arachu Castro, PhD, MPH, is Samuel Z. Stone Chair of Public Health in Latin America and Director of the Collaborative Group for Health Equity in Latin America at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, in New Orleans, United States. She conducts research on health equity and social inequalities, women’s health and reproduction, and early childhood development in contexts of poverty. Dr. Castro is principal investigator of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean: Impact on health services for women, children, and adolescents (ISLAC Project), a collaboration between Tulane University and the University Santiago de Chile.
Dr. Mary Eyram Ashinyo
Deputy Director, Institutional Care Division, Ghana Health Service
Dr. Mary Eyram Ashinyo is a Physician Specialist in Public Health with an emphasis on health policy and health systems management. As the Deputy Director of the Institutional Care Division of the Ghana Health Service, she is responsible for Quality and Safety. Dr. Ashinyo previously worked as a Medical Director of the Service and is an early career researcher. She leads the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of healthcare quality programs including WASH and IPC in the over seven thousand healthcare facilities of the Ghana Health Service towards achieving High Quality Universal Health Coverage by 2030 and beyond. She holds an MBChB, an MPH and is a member of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Elif Shafak
Award-winning novelist, public speaker, academic and human rights activist
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She has written 18 books, 11 of which are novels, including the Booker Prize-shortlisted 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World. Translated into 55 languages, Shafak holds a PhD in political science, is a women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights activist, and has twice been a TED Global Speaker. An honorary fellow at St Anne’s College, Oxford University, she was awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and is a fellow and Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature.
Elisabeth SidabutarHumanitarian Programme Analyst, UNFPA Indonesia
Elisabeth Sidabutar is the Humanitarian Programme Analyst of UNFPA Indonesia. She has more 20 years of professional working experience in programme development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in the area of reproductive health and gender-based violence in both development and emergency settings. She has led humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery efforts in many areas of Indonesia since 2005. Elisabeth has overseas experience as Humanitarian Coordinator in UNFPA Papua New Guinea, and the Asia Pacific Regional Office. She completed a Master's Degree in Management Development Studies from the Torino University, Italy 2011. Her previous working experience includes World Vision International and Catholic Relief Services.
Elizabeth Adongo
Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service
Elizabeth Adongo is currently the Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Government of Kenya. Prior to this appointment, Ms Adongo was an Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Devolution and Planning. Her special focus areas include public service governance, human development, public service and women's movement building. Elizabeth is the current National Focal Coordinator for the Honest Service-Huduma Halisi Campaign, a governance programme jointly spearheaded by the Government of Kenya and UNECA. Her career has also spanned many of the United Kingdom’s highest-profile regeneration initiatives, including the New Cross Gate New Deal for Communities (NDC), that focused on devolving central government powers and policies to local structures. Ms Adongo has a degree from University of Reading and has a Master’s Degree from University of Goldsmiths. In April 2006, she was awarded the London Mayor's Award in recognition of her contribution to the City of London, England.
H.E. Mia Amor Mottley
Prime Minister, Barbados
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley is the 8th Prime Minister of Barbados. She became the first woman to occupy the high office, following General Elections on May 24th 2018. An Attorney-at-Law and Queen’s Counsel, Prime Minister Mottley has been active in the political life of Barbados for almost three decades. First elected in 1994 she is presently serving her sixth term as Member of Parliament. Between 1994 and 2008 Miss Mottley served in the Cabinet of three successive Administrations, first as Minister of Education and Culture; then as Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs; and then as Minister of Economic Affairs. In 2003 she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. Prime Minister Mottley currently also holds the portfolios of Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment. She also currently serves as Chair of the IMF/World Bank Development Committee and Co-Chair of the World Health Organization’s Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Helen Coombe
Medical Aid Films
With a professional background in health and community development, Helen has worked in the international development and health sectors for the past twenty years, focusing on work with children and young people, and health communications and programming around adolescent sexual and reproductive health and maternal and child health. Since joining Medical Aid Films she has focused on evaluation and research around health communication, with a specific interest in the contribution of multimedia in public health.
Helena Dollimore
Manager, Global Sustainability, Unilever
Helena is a Senior Manager in Global Sustainability at Unilever where she focusses on Health and Wellbeing. This covers Unilever’s efforts to improve access to safe water and sanitation, and its response to COVID-19 and other humanitarian emergencies. For the last year, she has been overseeing the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition to help tackle Covid-19 around the world working with the UK Government and 21 NGO and UN partners in 37 countries. Helena previously worked for the CEO of Save the Children, where she was deeply engaged with many of the major humanitarian crises of recent years; the wars in Yemen and Syria, the persecution of the Rohingya people, and the Global Refugee Crisis.
Helga Fogstad
Executive Director, PMNCH
Helga Fogstad is the Executive Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH). Strongly committed to human rights, public health and gender issues, Ms Fogstad has extensive experience in forging partnerships for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. She is a health economist with over 30 years of public health experience, including with developing countries at subnational, national and global levels. Ms Fogstad was previously the Director of the Department of Global Health, Education and Research at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), where she guided the rapid scale-up of proven cost-effective interventions, focusing on the health Millennium Development Goals for women and children. In this capacity, she was actively engaged in political mobilization and advocacy initiatives, including the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. Helga continues to serve on many Boards and committees as an active advocate and influencer in the global health sector.
Hon. Moima Briggs Mensah
Member of Parliament, Liberia
Hon. Muhammad Usman
Immediate Past Deputy of the Chair Healthcare Services Committee, Nigeria’s Federal House of Representative and Chair of the National Advocates for Health
Mohammed Usman was a Member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives in the 8th National Assembly, 2015–2019. He was Deputy Chair of the Committee on Health Care Services. He is a close collaborator of John Hopkins IVAC Projects in Nigeria. He has extensive experience in the public and private sectors, having served twice as Local Government Chair and three times as Commissioner of Kaduna State. He was previously General Manager of Peugeot, Nigeria. He is currently the Chair of the National Advocates for Health, Nigeria.
Ilana Sod
Moderator - TV and Radio Journalist
Ilana Sod is an Emmy-nominated journalist, producer and radio and television host. She has produced, narrated and hosted well over a hundred series, documentaries and conferences worldwide, involving organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the International Labour Organization, on topics ranging from entrepreneurship and social innovation to social justice, public health and gender diversity. She has worked in media for over 20 years as editor-in-chief and senior correspondent for MTV News Latin America. She was also deployed as an MTV war correspondent in Israel in 2003, during the Second Gulf War. Ilana hosts a daily radio show on Aire Libre 105.3 FM, based in Mexico City, and co-hosts Milenio Negocios, a television business show featuring interviews with many of Latin America’s most relevant corporate leaders and entrepreneurs.
Jennifer Klein
Executive Director and Co-Chair White House Gender Policy Council, USA
Jennifer Klein is a Co-Chair and Executive Director of the White House Gender Policy Council. She was previously the Chief Strategy and Policy Officer at TIME’S UP where she led strategic planning and managed all research and policy efforts. She was a Senior Advisor on Women’s Issues to the Hillary for America campaign and transition team. From 2009 to 2012, she was a Deputy and Senior Advisor in the Office of Global Women's Issues within the Office of the Secretary at the US Department of State, working on a range of foreign policy issues relating to the advancement of women, including global health, girls’ education and gender integration in US foreign policy.
Jihan Salad
SHRH Specialist, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Jordan
Jihan Salad is a public health specialist with over 10 years’ experience in sexual and reproductive health. She previously worked as a maternal and reproductive health specialist and as Officer-In-Charge of Puntland Sub-Office for UNFPA Somalia. In Somalia, Jihan contributed to the organization of the Campaign on the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa and to the establishment of the first ever forensic centre dedicated to survivors of gender-based violence. She currently works as a Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme Specialist for UNFPA Jordan, where she leads the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in humanitarian settings.
Jo Moir
Deputy Director, Human Development Department, Global Health Directorate, FCDO
Jo Moir is FCDO’s Deputy Director for Human Development, covering health systems, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate and health, and nutrition. As part of this role, Jo is working with colleagues across FCDO to spearhead the UK’s commitment to ending preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children, and the UK’s work to help countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Jo sits on the Global Financing Facility’s Investors Group and Trust Fund Committee, the Executive Committee of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, and is working with the FP2030 Transition Oversight Group. Jo has previously been Acting Head of the UK’s development programmes in Ethiopia and Acting Head of FCDO’s humanitarian, conflict and security department. She has led UK government programmes in Sudan, Libya and Egypt, represented the UK in UN negotiations on peacekeeping and conflict prevention, and helped to set up the UK Independent Commission for Aid Impact.
Joyce Kilikpo
Executive Director at Public Health Initiative Liberia
Joyce is a public health thought leader with over 13 years of experience in the public health sector both at national and international levels. She has contributed to strengthening community-based health system and programs in Liberia, as well as in Haiti where she last served as Health Delegate for the Norwegian Red Cross and returned home to contribute towards strengthening Liberia’s healthcare system through the Public Health Initiative Liberia (PHIL), which she founded and now serves as its Executive Director. She is also a 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow, a flagship initiative of former President Barack Obama of the US geared at empowering upcoming young African leaders to lead.
She currently serves as the board chair of Liberia Immunization platform, Chair of Liberia Health CSOs Network, National NGO Rep on the Global Funds for HIV, TB and Malaria Coordinating Committee Mechanism, CSOs lead for the Global Financing Facility for Reproductive, Maternal, New Born, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) in Liberia and also member of the Global CSOs Coordinating Group – Steering Committee of the Global Financing Facility for RMNCAH +N (Reproductive, Maternal, New Born, Child and Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition).
Julieta Martinez
Co-founder of Latinas for Climate Movement
Julieta Martinez is a 17-year-old student, a climate activist and a gender equity activist. She founded the TREMENDAS Collaborative Platform to promote the empowerment of girls, adolescents and young people by inviting them to place their skills and talents at the service of the community in order to generate social impact. She was selected to be part of UN Women’s Beijing Platform for Action Youth Task Force. She is a co-founder of Latinas for Climate, and WWF’s Chile Ambassador. In 2020 she participated in the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Summit as part of the delegation of UNWOMEN Chile. She is also a Climate Leader in the Climate Reality programme directed by Al Gore.
Jutomue Doetein
Child and Youth Rights Advocate
Jutomue Doetein is a passionate and well-motivated Child and Youth rights advocate who has worked for young people for more than 5 years in Liberia. During his leadership as the elected Speaker of the Liberian Children’s Parliament in 2017-2019, he led several peaceful marches, held major press conferences on issues affecting young people and subsequently educated more than 7,000 vulnerable children about their rights. Jutomue is currently serving as the Family Planning Youth Focal Point of Liberia, a role which enables him to advocate for Adolescents and Youth access to quality health care across Liberia. He also serves as the Advocacy Officer at Shalom Liberia, a non-governmental development organization that work to empower vulnerable adolescent girls and boys with life skills and vocational training. He has won several awards including the Young Champions Award and he was a nominee of the International Children’s Peace Prize of 2018.
Kaveri Mayra
Doctoral Candidate, University of Southampton and Research Midwife, India
Kaveri Mayra is a midwifery, nursing and public health researcher from India with extensive research experience working on nursing and midwifery workforce policies and practice. Kaveri is a global speaker on obstetric violence; nursing and midwifery governance, workforce policies and welfare; and gender-based challenges underlying. Kaveri has been recently recognized as one of the 100 outstanding global woman midwife and nurse leaders by Women in Global Health (WGH) to mark the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife (YONM) 2020 in collaboration with WHO, ICN, ICM, the Nursing Now Campaign and UNFPA. She is currently working as a Subject Matter Expert with the WHO HQ, while pursuing her PhD on Global Health at the University of Southampton, UK where she is exploring the experiences and determinants of obstetric violence in India.
Kay King
Executive Director at White Ribbon Alliance
Kay is an Executive Director at White Ribbon Alliance UK and Head of Growth and Development at All4 Maternity. Kay advocates for respectful maternity care and works towards alleviating disproportionate adverse outcomes in maternal and reproductive health.
Lisa Hilmi
Executive Director, CORE Group
Lisa Hilmi has over 30 years of global health experience in over 20+ countries, employing both human rights and community-based participatory approaches to addressing health disparities for women, children and communities. She has worked in development settings, led response to HIV/AIDS/STIs/GBV in refugee and conflict settings, and developed policy for outbreaks, disasters, and epidemics in multiple countries. She has led over $180 Million of development, relief and rehabilitation efforts. She sits on the WHO PMNCH Board, the Steering Committee of the Child Health Task Force, the Board of Directors at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, as well as other review committees. She holds an MPH from Columbia University, a BSN and completing her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, was a Jonas Nurse Scholar, is a Certified Pediatric Nurse, and holds a BA in Communications and Political Science from Villanova University.
Lopa Banerjee
Director of the Civil Society Division, UN Women
Lopa Banerjee is the Director of the Civil Society Division at UN-Women. She leads UN-Women’s strategic engagement and partnership development with civil society organizations to influence global action on gender equality related to standard setting, policy discussion and stakeholder accountability. Lopa is also the Executive Coordinator of the Generation Equality Forum at UN Women, the global, multi-stakeholder partnership initiative launched to accelerate the achievement of gender equality commitments, on the occasion of the twenty fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for gender equality. Lopa has worked for over three decades across Asia, Africa and the USA on international development, advocacy and communication and partnership building.
Maddie Kau
Ideas42
Maddie Kau is a Senior Associate at ideas42, a non-profit that uses insights from behavioral science to improve lives, build better systems and policies, and drive social change. With a background in economics and design, Maddie applies behavioral science to address priority global health challenges in the areas of maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, communicable diseases, and provider behavior.
Maddie holds a BA in Economics from Brown University and was previously a design researcher in Myanmar. She is passionate about combining the strengths of human centered design and behavioral science to help people around the world follow through on their intentions to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
Mark Hanson
Director of Institute of Development Sciences, University of Southampton
Mark Hanson directs the Institute of Developmental Sciences at University of Southampton, UK. He is a founder of the International Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease and Honorary FRCOG and FRCPCH. He co-chairs the FIGO Pregnancy and NCDs Committee and the Pregnancy Obesity and Nutrition Initiative. He researches early developmental environment effects on health across the life-course, mechanisms and interventions, in high- and low-middle-income countries. Mark pioneered LifeLab to promote health literacy in school students. Mark authored over 400 papers and 11 academic and popular books, and advocates the application of developmental science to health policy.
Medhin Tsehaiu
UNAIDS Country Director, Kenya
Dr Medhin Tsehaiu is UNAIDS Country Director in the Republic of Kenya since July 2019. She coordinates the work of 11 UN Agencies and provides strategic support to the National AIDS response leveraging partnerships aligning to national development priorities and the UNDAF. Besides, she coordinates the UN H6 Health Partnership that harnesses the collective strengths of UNAIDS, UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF, UN Women, and the World Bank Group to strengthen RMNCAH programming towards UHC, one of the Big4Agenda advancing Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health. She co-chairs the PHC window of the SDG Partnership Platform. She represents the Multilateral Development Partners in the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism in mobilizing resources and planning processes to prioritize high impact interventions to support Kenya’s effective AIDS response.
Meladul Haq Ahmadzai
CEO at Taleam Systems
Meladul Haq Ahmadzai, is the CEO of Taleam Systems a computer support company based in Ottawa-Canada. He started this company in 2011 and has been working in the computer/IT industry for 10 years. Taleam Systems addresses how to manage medical appointments through web-based technology such as SaaS, QR code and HTML design in the healthcare system. He will be sharing his company prototype during the Marketplace session. Learn more about Taleam Systems by visiting www.taleamsystems.com
Mercy Onsando
Chief Executive Officer, Health NGOs Network (HENNET)
Dr. Mercy Onsando currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Health NGOs Network (HENNET), an Umbrella organization of civil society organizations in the in Kenya. HENNET supports coordination, advocacy, representation, and capacity building of civil society organizations working with a focus on health-related issues. HENNET actively support promotion of accountability, advocacy and policy influence in the health sector in Kenya. Dr. Mercy has vast experience in advocacy work having served as the Advocacy Lead of various national civil society organizations in Kenya for over two decades. She has in-depth knowledge and expertise on policy development both at the national and international levels.
Mercy Mwangangi
Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kenya
Dr. Mercy Mwangangi is the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Kenya. Dr. Mwangangi previously worked in the public health department in Tharaka-Nithi County before becoming Head of Health Financing & Health Economics at the Ministry of Health. She has been at the forefront in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. She has toured several counties where she has engaged community leaders on their role in the fight against COVID-19 within their countries. Dr. Mwangagi serves as a joint secretary in the taskforce on Universal Health Coverage and is a member of African Women in Leadership Network (WILN). She is a trained medical doctor having graduated from the University of Nairobi in 2009 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Health Economics and Policy from the University of Adelaide, Australia.
Michael A. Asud
Country Coordinator and Secretary of International Affairs at the Organisation of Africa Youth (OAY) Kenya
Michael Asudi is an innovative young leader with over seven years of experience working with youth in Kenya, Africa and globally. He is the Country Coordinator and Secretary of International Affairs at the Organisation of Africa Youth. He is Convener and Founder of Kenya Adolescents and Youth SRHR/HIV Network. Previously, he was a volunteer trainer and Resource Mobilisation Officer/Treasurer at the Organisation of Africa Youth-Kenya. He worked with OAY in regional consulations for the Post 2015 Agenda that culminated into SDGs. He is passionate about youth empowerment and community centered development. He has interest in Health (Advocacy, Finance and Universal Health Coverage), Civic Engagement, Youth Work Practice, SDGs, and Entrepreneurship.
Michelle Bachelet
High Commissioner for Human Rights, former President of Chile
Michelle Bachelet is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was elected President of Chile, serving from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 2018 as Chile’s first female President. She also served as Health Minister (2000–2002) and Latin America’s first female Defence Minister (2002–2004). During her presidential tenures, she promoted the rights of all, but particularly those of the most vulnerable. Among her many achievements, education and tax reforms, are the creation of the National Institute for Human Rights and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. Notably, she established the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, the adoption of quotas to increase women’s political participation, and the approval of Civil Union Act legislation, granting rights to same-sex couples and thus advancing LGBT rights. Since the early 1990s, Ms Bachelet has worked closely with many international organizations. In 2010 she chaired the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group, a joint initiative of the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization, which promoted social policies to stimulate economic growth and social cohesion. In 2011, she was named the first Director of UN Women, an organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of women and girls internationally. Economic empowerment and ending violence against women were two of her priorities during her tenure. She has recently pledged to be a Gender Champion, committing to advance gender equality in OHCHR and in international fora.
Monique Vledder
Practice Manager, Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF)
Monique Vledder is Head of the Secretariat for the Global Financing Facility (GFF). Her expertise in maternal and child health, health financing, and health systems strengthening has been built over 20 years of country experience with global development organizations. She has led World Bank country programmes on health system reform and primary health care in Latin America and East and Southern Africa. She has also managed UK Department for International Development programmes on women’s health, health financing and inequality in Brazil and led a portfolio of maternal and child health and nutrition programmes for World Vision International in Indonesia. Prior to the establishment of the GFF in 2015, Monique managed the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund, focusing on innovations in health financing and front-line service delivery. Monique holds an MD from the University of Amsterdam, an MPH in International Health from Harvard University and a diploma in health economics from the University of York.
Nazneen Damji
Senior Policy Advisor for Gender Equality, HIV and Health, UN Women
Nazneen Damji is the Senior Policy Advisor for Gender Equality, HIV and Health at UN Women. With over 20 years of professional experience promoting women’s rights and gender equality, she oversees UN Women’s policy and programming efforts on gender equality dimensions of HIV and AIDS, as well as women’s health, including sexual and reproductive rights. She brings particular expertise on the socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS on households. She holds an MSc. in Economics (Gender and Development) from the London School of Economics.
Neneh Cherry
Singer-songwriter, rapper and producer
Neneh Cherry is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper and producer who achieved UK and global success with Buffalo Stance in 1988, followed by Manchild and Woman. Her sound is a ground-breaking mix of music and genres. She has released five studio albums and won two Brit Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award (with Youssou N’Dour for their hit Seven Seconds in 1994), and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990 in the Best New Artist Category. She has collaborated with artists including Cher, Gang Starr, Robyn, Four Tet and Gorillaz. Neneh released her latest album, Broken Politics, to critical acclaim in 2018, followed in 2019 by an expanded reissue of her 1989 solo debut album, Raw Like Sushi.
Pauline Anyona
Adolescents and Youth SRHR Advocate and Health Budget Advocate, Organization of Africa Youth (OAY) Kenya
Pauline Anyona is an Adolescents and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocate and a health budget advocate in the campaign for good governance at the Organization of Africa Youth Kenya. She additionally serves as the Advocacy and Accountability Officer for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health’s Adolescents and Youth Constituency. Pauline is passionate about advocacy for improvement in the delivery of adolescent- and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services and policies, their economic empowerment and how both can be made instrumental in the achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goals.
Petra Vergeer
GFF Lead for Knowledge & Learning and Result Based Financing
Petra Vergeer has been part of the conception of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) – a country-led global partnership hosted at the World Bank committed to ensuring all women, children and adolescents can survive and thrive. Petra is the GFF Lead for Knowledge & Learning and the Result Based Financing (RBF) portfolio. She also oversees the work on Monitoring Essential Health Services during COVID19, in collaboration with the World Bank Development Research Group. Petra started her career as a nurse and has been working in public health, emergency response and health system strengthening programs in low-income countries for 25 years, with a focus on fragile settings.
Prof. Awa Marie Coll-Seck
State Minister to the Presidency, Senegal
Professor Awa Marie Coll Seck, MD, PhD, is a specialist in Infectious diseases and Bacteriology-Virology. She is Minister of State to the President of the Republic of Senegal and chairs the National Committee of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (CN-ITIE). Prof. Coll Seck has been twice Minister of Health in Senegal. She was named “Best Minister in the World” in Dubai in February 2017 at the World Government Summit. Prior to this, she was responsible for directing the Department of Infectious Diseases at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. Prof. Coll Seck was Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) and Director of the Department of Policy, Strategy and Research of UNAIDS.
Purnima Menon
Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute
Purnima Menon is a Senior Research Fellow in IFPRI’s Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, and is based at IFPRI’s Asia office in New Delhi, India. She conducts applied nutrition research in the South Asia region, with a focus on programmes and policies to improve maternal and child nutrition. Dr Menon leads a team conducting impact and process evaluations of Alive and Thrive, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-supported initiative to improve infant and young child feeding and child nutrition in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Vietnam. She holds a PhD in International Nutrition from Cornell University and an MSc in Nutrition from the University of Delhi.
Racheal Abujah
Health Correspondent with News Agency of Nigeria
Racheal Abujah is Senior Health Correspondent with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). NAN is a news reporting agency owned and run by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Racheal is a member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists and the COVID-19 Accountability Working Group in Nigeria. She holds a BA in French from the University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, a masters in competitive literature from the Université de Besançon, France, and a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the International Institute of Journalism, Abuja, Nigeria.
Rachel Ambalu
Innovative Partnership for Universal and Sustainable Healthcare Project Lead, Amref Health Africa
Rachel Ambalu is a prolific public health specialist with over 12 years’ experience in health systems strengthening. She has significantly contributed to policy analysis and strategy development in health and social programs. Currently, she leads the Innovative Partnership for Universal and Sustainable Healthcare project in Amref Health Africa, a UHC flagship model. Previously, she worked as a Technical Advisor for social determinants of health on a USAID funded project in Kenya and designed models for household economic strengthening and recently worked on a stretch assignment for PMNCH as a Technical Advisor, Quality, Dignity and Equity for Women, Children and Adolescents. Her endearing passion entails finding sustainable solutions for transforming the health of communities with a disposition to maternal and child health and social protection for low-income populations.
Ranjana Kumar
Head of Health Systems Planning, Management, and Peformance, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance
Ranjana Kumar is a paediatrician who has worked in international health and development for over two decades. She has worked with the Government of India, civil society organizations, and donor and UN agencies at key decision-making levels. She has rich and diverse experience in providing clinical services, setting up systems for child survival and safe motherhood in urban settings, and subsequently as a health adviser with DFID India, leading the UK Government’s support for reproductive and child health in India. She has worked with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva for over a decade and has overseen several portfolios, previously including as Regional Head for the Asia Pacific region overseeing Gavi investments, leading on building country capacity in leadership, management and coordination.
Rhodoxon S. Fayiah
Journalist, Liberia
Rhodoxon S. Fayiah is a Liberian Journalist heading the Strategic Journalist Committee and the Technical and Policy Advisor to the President of the Press Union of Liberia, Charles B. Coffy. He has over twenty-five years of experience in the media sector and his work covers women’s, girls’ and children’s health issues as well as sexual health and gender-based violence.
Rt. Hon. Helen Clark
PMNCH Board Chair and former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Helen Clark was Prime Minister of New Zealand for three successive terms from 1999 to 2008. Throughout her tenure as Prime Minister and as a Member of Parliament for 27 years, Helen Clark engaged widely in policy development and advocacy across the international, economic, social, environmental and cultural spheres. She advocated strongly for New Zealand’s comprehensive programme on sustainability and for tackling the problems of climate change. She was an active leader of her country’s foreign relations, engaging in a wide range of international issues. In April 2009, Helen Clark became Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She was the first woman to lead the organization and served two terms there. At the same time, she was also Chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of all UN funds, programmes, agencies and departments working on development issues. As Administrator, she led UNDP to be ranked the most transparent global development organization. She completed her tenure in 2017. Before her premiership, she had an extensive parliamentary and ministerial career. Prior to her election to New Zealand’s Parliament in 1981, she taught in the Political Studies Department of the University of Auckland, from which she had graduated with BA and MA (Hons) degrees. Helen continues to advocate strongly for sustainable development, climate action, gender equality and women’s leadership, peace and justice, and for action on pressing global health issues. In July 2020, she was appointed by the Director-General of the World Health Organization as a Co-Chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, called for by the World Health Assembly, which will report in May this year.
Sabina Chege
Member of Parliament, Kenya National Assembly
Sabina Wanjiru Chege is a Member of Parliament serving in the Kenya National Assembly as the women’s representative for Murang'a County. She is also the Chairperson to the Parliamentary Health Committee. She is a woman of many talents and used to be an actor at Kenya National Theatre. She served as a radio presenter within the broadcast media for many years and is well-known for raising development related issues. Hon. Chege holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Communication, both from the University of Nairobi.
Salma Anas Kolo
Head of Department and Director Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria
Dr. Salma Anas Kolo is the Director and Head of Department of Family Health in the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria. She serves as the head of the secretariat of the Nigeria Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) Partnership Coordination Platform. Under her leadership, the platform co-chaired by the Honorable Minister of Health and that of Women Affairs have presented in December 2021 Nigeria’s commitment to the PMNCH COVID-19 Call to Action and launched the 2021-2022 COVID-19 RMNCAEH+N Continuity Plan and 2021 RMNCAEH+N costed operational plan. Dr. Salma was appointed Commissioner for Health in Borno State, Nigeria between 2011 and 2015. She is an internationally renowned public health expert and has worked around the world for the United Nations System, through its agencies including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Sandra Oyarzo Torres
Vice President, International Confederation of Midwives; Associate Professor, Universidad de Chile; Women in Global Health Board Member
Holding RM, BM and MEd degrees, Sandra Oyarzo Torres is a midwife, educator and advocate. She is Associate Professor at the Department of Education in Health Science, University of Chile. She paved the way for midwifery regulation in Latin America by continuously educating her fellow midwives about the vital need for every midwife to deliver high-quality, respectful and evidence-based maternity care and sexual and reproductive health and rights services. In 2019, she was recognized by Woman in Global Health (WGH) as one of its Heroines of Health. She serves as Vice President of the International Confederation of Midwives and on the Board of WGH. She is the first Latin American woman to hold these positions. She also co-founded WGH Chile Chapter of which she is Co-Lead, and is Vice President of Chilean Midwives Association.
Sharon Musakali
Programmes and project manager, Organization of African Youth (OAY) Kenya
Sharon Musakali, is a right brain spatial who is creative and hands-on. However, her multi-skilled ability allows her to operate in different fields. She is a Young Africa Leadership Initiative (YALI), and Education for All Children (EFAC) fellow, Global Give Back Circle (GGBC) alumna. These programs have largely contributed to who she is. She currently works at Organization of African Youth Kenya as a programs and project and has previously worked at CDI-Africa Coaching Group, Ashoka East Africa, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, and Education for All Children (EFAC) and at Starehe Girls Center. Sharon values community and volunteer work. She is a salsa dancer and a hiker at Silver level in the Presidential Awards Scheme.
Siamola Murundo
Programme assistant/volunteer at Organization of African Youth (OAY)
Siamola Murundo is a public health professional with keen interest in reproductive health and epidemiology. He has five years’ experience in designing and implementing women and youth programs while working for non-governmental organizations as a youth advocate, volunteer and a leader. Currently, he is a program assistant/volunteer at Organization of African Youth, International Youth Alliance for Family Planning Youth Task force member, advocate at The Advocacy Accountability Collaborative network and the Knowledge SUCCESS (KM) champion for family planning. He possesses a degree in Public Health, several professional training certificates including policy advocacy and governance.
Stephani Yeo Goehan
Director of Advocacy, Association de Soutien à l'Autopromotion Sanitaire et Urbain (ASAPSU), Cote d’Ivoire
Stephani Yeo Goehan is a Sociologist who is currently the Director of Advocacy with ASAPSU, a civil society organization engaged at the community level to promote increased health financing strategies in Côte d’Ivoire. Ms. Yeo Goehan also works in partnership with the National Assembly to address issues related to insufficient and/or inefficient health financing. In addition, she is a trainer of trainers, conducting workshops on resource mobilization for health financing and health budget advocacy in Senegal, Benin, and Burkina Faso in addition to Côte d’Ivoire to further reinforce health financing approaches within a regional network. Additionally, Ms. Yeo Goehan works in humanitarian assistance, providing training and capacity building programs for refugees, displaced, and vulnerable populations during periods of conflict and/or emergency response.
Sufi Mujhgan Nazish
Health Activist/ Provincial Master Trainer- Pakistan
Sufi Mujhgan Nazish started working as a volunteer at the age of 14 with different national and international welfare institutes. She currently works as a Provincial Master Trainer with a UNICEF funded project on polio and essential immunizations. Besides her professional work she is engaged in other forums to help communities gain better access to health and immunization services. As a Provincial master trainer her role is to help build capacities of front line workers, area supervisors and other staff who are working to ensure communities get access to immunization and better health services. The training methodologies she employs have helped successfully converted the mindset in communities of the KP tribal belt of Pakistan.
Suresh Eriyat
Eeksaurus
Born in Kerala, India, in 1973, Suresh graduated from the prestigious National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad specializing in communication design in 1997. Since then, he has been relentlessly working in the field of animation and film design. In the difficult and early days of development of the animation genre in India, Eriyat established the Famous House of Animation in 1998. It was this landmark venture through which he was able to realize numerous animated ads, shorts, music videos with many firsts, which brought not only national and international recognition but also changed the way people perceived animation in India. Optimizing the learning and experience of 11 years from there, he founded Studio Eeksaurus, in 2009, which creates films in a media agnostic manner in all formats and platforms. With over 400 films to his name, he has received over 200 awards, including the prestigious Annecy festival Cristal in 2015, a first for India. He advocates for Animation to be respected as a means to tell stories and not as a technique as commonly misunderstood. His stories come to life from the socio-cultural political environment where people, habits and culture are ingredients. Indigenous Visual Design is inherent in his ingenious craft of film making.
Titilope Sonuga
Poet
Titilope Sonuga is a Nigerian writer, poet, playwright and performer whose work grasps for moments of tenderness and persistent joy at the intersection of blackness and womanhood. She is the author of three award-winning collections of poetry, Down to Earth (2011), Abscess (2014), and This Is How We Disappear (2019) and has composed and released two spoken word albums, Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019). Titilope has written three plays, The Six; an intergenerational exploration of womanhood, Naked; a one-woman play and Ada The Country, a musical. She has scripted global campaigns for brands including; The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, White Ribbon Alliance, Google, Intel Corporation, Guaranty Trust Bank and The MacArthur Foundation. Her writing has been translated into Italian, German and Slovak.
Toyin Chukwudozie
Head of Programs, Education as Vaccine & PMNCH AYC
Toyin Chukwudozie is a young woman who is passionate about amplifying the voices of young people in her community. For the last nine years she has pushed for sustainable social change for young people, especially young women and girls. She joined Education as a Vaccine (EVA) in 2013 as a counsellor on sexual and reproductive health and rights, providing SRHR counselling and information for adolescents and young people via various technology platforms. She is currently Head of Programmes at EVA, coordinating the development and implementation of advocacy, policy influencing, service delivery and capacity building programmes to uphold the rights of adolescents and young people, especially adolescent girls and young women.
Vandita Morarka
Founder and CEO of One Future Collective
Vandita is a young queer activist, social entrepreneur, lawyer, and a rights-based policy consultant, strategist and facilitator. She is the Founder and CEO of One Future Collective. Vandita is an Acumen Fellow, WISE Qatar Emerging Leader, and a leader at the Swedish Institute Leader Lab. She also serves as a Director on the Board at CIVICUS. She has worked in the development sector for over 8 years and her work has impacted the lives of more than 20,00,000 people.
Wendy Morton
Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), UK
Wendy Morton is the Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Wendy was first appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development on 13 February 2020. She was first elected as Conservative MP for Aldridge-Brownhills in May 2015. Wendy was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice from 26 July 2019 to 13 February 2020 and Assistant Government Whip from 9 January 2018 to 26 July 2019.