International Working Group for Health Systems Strengthening

IWG Executive Committee

Malvikha Manoj | co-Executive Director malvikhamanoj28@gmail.com

Malvikha Manoj is a health systems and policy practitioner, with a special focus on youth mental health and leadership. She is a lived experience advocate for mental health action. Additionally, she is a co-founder and co-Executive Director of the International Working Group for Health Systems Strengthening (IWG). Currently, she works as a Consultant at UNICEF’s MENA Regional Office and at HQ, supporting the child and adolescent mental health and data advocacy portfolio, as well as the cross-cutting nature of mental health across Child Protection, Health, and other sectors. Malvikha’s work is guided by the philosophy that power and privilege are critical lenses for understanding health system challenges and opportunities; and that without strong leadership, committed action, equitable policies, and cross-sectoral systems strengthening, it is difficult to push the needle forward to create health systems that work for all.

Bettina Buabeng-Baidoo | co-Executive Director bbuabengbaidoo@gmail.com

Dr Bettina Buabeng-Baidoo is a medical doctor, debate coach, motivational speaker, and author. In 2020, she graduated from the University of Pretoria with distinction and as the top Family Medicine student. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health at the University of Cape Town on the prestigious Mandela-Rhodes scholarship. Dr. Buabeng-Baidoo believes that the transformation of African health systems is essential for addressing socioeconomic disparity. She believes that access to quality health care is fundamental to the human right to dignity and is  particularly concerned with improving the accessibility and quality of mental health services in Africa. She will serve as co-executive director of the International Working Group for Health System Strengthening from 2022 to 2024. She has won the South African National University Debating Championships and the South African National Schools Debating Championships in the past. She was the head coach of the South African National Schools Debating Team from 2018 to 2019. She is the co-founder and editor of the Social Justice Stories series, a collection of short stories written by high school students in South Africa. Through her work with the SA debating board, she hopes to use debating as a mechanism to inspire a love for knowledge, critical thinking, and social advocacy amongst the youth.

Marali Singaraju | Thematic Working Groups co-Director

Marali Singaraju, MPH is the Co-Director for the Thematic Working Groups and represents the Americas Region. She also co-leads the Global Vaccine Equity Committee for IWG. Marali is a recent Master of Public Health graduate from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and is currently a Global Health Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She also engages in maternal and child health research in Kenya and COVID-19 response work both locally and globally. Her passions in public health include health equity, global health leadership, infectious diseases, mental health, and social epidemiology. In her free time, she loves to be in nature, adventure with her friends, unwind with music and exercise, and explore new places.

Sabreen AbeedAllah | Thematic Working Groups co-Director

Sabreen AbeedAllah is a Palestinian activist and public health professional with a Bachelor of Arts in Medical Laboratory and a Master of Arts in International Cooperation and Development, in addition to the Master’s degree in Women’s Public Health she is currently pursuing. She is the Focal Person of Sexual and Reproductive Health Interventions at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), an active member of multiple national committees, and has attended various trainings on SRH, GBV, and Youth Health. Her projects have included establishing youth-friendly clinics and mobile SRH clinics that provide essential services to marginalized communities. Sabreen is dedicated to promoting SRH, gender equality, and social justice in Palestine, making her an inspiring leader and advocate for strengthening health systems for women and young people In Palestine, and beyond.

Cephas Ke-on Avoka | Global Initiatives co-Director

Cephas is a dynamic, innovative, and results-driven medical practitioner and public health researcher with over seven years of experience in rural health policy, practice and health innovation. He has over ten years of experience in reproductive health advocacy and training worldwide and has conducted both in-person and virtual training for hundreds of medical students and other youth groups. Cephas is driven by a desire to reduce health inequity and promote efficiency in healthcare. He has developed protocols for maternal and child health care in rural areas, created innovative health financing models for rural health, and applied digital technology to improve access to health services in rural districts. He is credited with initiatives such as the colour-coding protocol, bed-branding initiative and online referral coordination programme in rural districts all over Ghana. Cephas has been recognised worldwide as a Women Deliver Young Leader, Mandela Washington Fellow and Chevening Scholar.

Nuha Bazeer | Global Initiatives co-Director

Nuha is an Economist within Health, having completed her MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing at the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in 2020. She is currently employed as Economic Analyst for The Health Foundation in the U.K., a health charity that carries out research and analysis for the sustainability of health systems. She has written and contributed to a range of publications on changing population demand, healthcare workforce projections, and nurse pay. Since completing her undergraduate degree in Economics in 2017, Nuha has gained various professional experiences within health policy, from engaging with pharmaceutical companies through a medical communications agency and later through a pharmaceutical consultancy, to working in Business Intelligence for NHS England and carrying out data analysis. Nuha has also worked as a Health Research Consultant for the LSE Department of Health Policy and was a Senior Editor of the LSE Journal of Health Policy and Economics.

Danny Ochieng | Fundraising and Treasury co-Director

Danny is a co-founder and Partner of Africa focused Private Equity Fund, TAD Capital that Manages portfolios in Automotive, Financial Services, Energy, Heavy Equipment, Organic sustainable agriculture among others. He is an immediate former Group CEO of Dubai based AJ Capital, a leading global investment firm managing family private equity, venture capital, credit and real estate investment fund. Danny accumulated an unmatched multi-industry experience across Europe, Asia and Africa. Danny serves on the Board of Directors of TAD Capital, Marie Stopes International, GME Trust, Sapphire Apparels, Firefly Startup Garage, Simple Ideas LLC and Zuri EV Mobility Africa advancing green energy adoption and use in Transport and Logistics across Africa. He also serves as an Advisor to the Harvard University’s Business Review. Danny studied at Atlantic, Columbia Business School, Yale School of Management and the Starehe Boys Centre and School in Nairobi – Kenya.

Rishabh Singh | Fundraising and Treasury co-Director

Rishabh Singh is a healthcare management consultant associated with issues of healthcare delivery, business strategy, financial planning & forecasting, partnerships and program monitoring and evaluation. He has an MBA in Health & Hospital Management and an Engineering degree. With a cumulative experience of around 10 years, Rishabh has worked extensively in Health, Education & Rural development sectors. He is also a certified Design Thinker and an Educator. With over 10 years of diverse experience in healthcare, education & rural development, he has been contributing to the formulation & operationalization of successful management strategies and policy frameworks in organizations he has served. An ardent Gandhian, he has always made an attempt to follow his talisman in all the work he does, that is, to recall the face of the poorest and the most helpless person whom he may have seen and ask himself if the step he contemplates is going to be of any use to them.

Sitra Nuredin Ababulgu | Global Advocacy and Media co-Director

Dr. Sitra Nuredin is a medical doctor and project management professional based in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. She is currently working on the Gender Transformative Leadership project at Women in Global Health which is a project that aims to promote equity and explore new approaches to addressing existing gender inequities in healthcare. Sitra has a multitude of experience in research, advocacy, and community based interventions and also holds a Bachelor Degree in Management. She is passionate about women’s and children’s health and rights, and she has worked on projects that address inequities in healthcare delivery, women’s empowerment, and access to SRHR information and services. Sitra is an avid volunteer, a member of Rotract Club of Abugida and Tankua SRHR Podcast Project Manager.

Flata Mwale | Global Advocacy and Media co-Director

Flata Mwale is a biomedical scientist and Global health systems and health policy practitioner currently supporting strengthening of Laboratory systems in Zambia. She is currently working with Right to Care Zambia under a USAID funded HIV/AIDS project as provincial Laboratory Manager supporting the Ministry of Health in Laboratory Systems Strengthening as well as scaling up of Viral load testing in the Northern region of Zambia. She believes that health care should be equitable and that equity must be the fundamental principle that drives our health systems in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage. She believes that building back better must take a health systems approach to close the gaps exposed by the pandemic and that collaborative efforts from govts, national and multinational organisations, public and private institutions within nations will get us stronger institutions that will assure global health security. She is also a gender equity/equality advocate and co-founder/ Deputy country lead for Women in Global Health Zambia with experience in national level movement building. Gender Transformative approaches in health systems strengthening can not be over emphasised.

Shah Jahan Tajudeen | Communications and Events Directors

With nearly 15 years of experience spanning the wide spectrum of communication, Shah Jahan currently leads stakeholder engagement with the Singapore International Foundation where he stewards the nonprofit’s enablers and manages communication efforts across several markets including Cambodia, India, Laos, and Singapore. He holds a Masters in Communication Management from Singapore Management University and a Bachelor in Communications from Murdoch University.

Olali Isaac Nakanie | Communications and Events Directors

Olali Nakanie is a public health enthusiast, microbiologist and environmental health scientist. Her interest lies in building and strengthening health systems and advocacy programs in semi-urban and grassroots communities using channels that can be easily accessed by the target population thereby bridging the gap or vacuum created by lack of awareness or proper information, inequality, inadequate resource management and poor personnel management in health systems. Currently she works with the rural development initiative in her area as a public health official assisting communities affected by climate change, promoting health awareness and educative programmes aimed at reducing health risks and negative vices or habits among various individuals. She is also a volunteer environmental scientist with the national oil spill detection and response agency where she participates in oil spill response activities such as oil spill recovery and cleanup, remediation of polluted sites, assessment of environmental damage caused by oil spill and evacuation of properties and victims of spill from oil polluted sites to safer grounds. She is passionate about global health and has worked with various health organizations in promoting health education, awareness and global sustainability and she hopes to do more in promoting global Health and sustainability and to strengthen health systems globally.