Global Launch Webinar: Fit for purpose? Global Coordination Mechanisms of Large-Scale Epidemic Responses in Humanitarian Settings

23 JANUARY 2024 | 09:00-10:00 EST / 13:00-14:00 UTC / 15:00-16:00 EAT || Speakers: Paul Spiegel, Abdi Raman Mahamud, Natalie Roberts, Sorcha O’Callaghan, Sonia Walia (see speaker bios below)

This webinar launched READY’s new report: Fit for purpose? Global Coordination Mechanisms of Large-Scale Epidemic Responses in Humanitarian Settings.

The paper, developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, examines global structures and processes on epidemic coordination mechanisms and provides clear recommendations for improving large-scale epidemic response coordination in humanitarian emergencies. View/download this two-page brief that outlines the background, methodology, and key recommendations, and/or view/download the complete report (1 MB .pdf).
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Watch the recording:


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Moderated by Paul Spiegel, Director at the Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins University, the webinar featured an expert panel discussion between public health and humanitarian experts.

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Featured expert moderator and panelists:
(See full speaker bios below)

• Moderator: Paul Spiegel, Director, Center for Humanitarian Health at John Hopkins University
• Panelists
  • Abdi Raman Mahamud, Director for Alert and Response, World Health Organization
  • Natalie Roberts, Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières UK
  • Sorcha O’Callaghan, Director Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
  • Sonia Walia, Senior Health Advisor, Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance USAID

This event was hosted by the READY initiative, led by Save the Children, and funded by the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

Subscribe to READY’s email list to receive future announcements about training opportunities, webinars, and other updates.

Expert Moderator and Panelist Bios

Paul Spiegel, Director, Center for Humanitarian Health at John Hopkins University

Dr. Spiegel, a Canadian physician and epidemiologist by training, is one of the few humanitarians in the world who both responds to and researches humanitarian emergencies. He is internationally recognized for his research on preventing and responding to humanitarian emergencies, and more recently broader issues of migration. Beginning in 1992 as a Medical Coordinator responding to the refugee crisis for the “lost boys of Sudan” in Kenya, Dr. Spiegel has responded to and managed numerous humanitarian crises in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East for over 30 years. Most recently he managed the emergency response for WHO in Afghanistan (Nov/Dec 2021) and in Europe for the Ukrainian refugees (Mar/Apr 2022).

Dr. Spiegel is the Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health and Professor of the Practice in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). Before JHSPH, Dr. Spiegel was the Deputy Director of Program Support and Management and the Chief of Public Health at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously worked as a Medical Epidemiologist in the International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, a Medical Coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde in refugee emergencies and has been a consultant for numerous international organizations including the Canadian Red Cross and WHO. Dr. Spiegel was the first Chair of the Funding Committee for Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (2013-2018). He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles on humanitarian health and migration. He has served as a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission for Migration and Health and the Lancet Commission on Syria. He is currently co-chair of Lancet Migration.

Abdirahman Raman Mahamud, Director for Alert and Response, World Health Organization

Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud is a global public health leader and a medical epidemiologist with over 20 years’ experience working in clinical medicine, humanitarian health responses, coordinating prevention, preparedness, and responses to vaccine-preventable diseases, epidemics, pandemics, and other public health emergencies at the national, regional, and international levels. Dr Mahamud is the current director, a.i, of Alert and Response Coordination department, WHO Health Emergencies Program since January 2022, leading WHO’s functions in early detection, risk assessment, event management, and response coordination of acute public health events including the 65 graded emergencies in 2023 under the three-tier grading. system.

Dr Mahamud was the Global COVID-19 Incident Manager, coordinating WHO’s COVID-19 technical, operational, and strategical response plans in 2021–2023. Dr Mahamud was immediately deployed to Manila, Philippines after the initial cases of novel coronaviruses were confirmed in January 2020, where he was the WHO’s West Pacific Region COVID-19 Incident Manager during the first phase of the pandemic response. Previously, Dr Mahamud worked as the WHO Pakistan National Team Leader for Polio Eradication Program and was a key member of Pakistan’s National Emergency Operation Centre for five years. Dr Mahamud has worked as disease surveillance officer in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, then the world’s biggest refugee camp, in 2008–2010, where he participated and supported preparedness, detection and response of communicable disease outbreaks.

Natalie Roberts, Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) UK

Dr Natalie Roberts is the Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the UK. A medical doctor, she has worked for MSF in various medical humanitarian contexts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including in settings of violence and conflict, infectious disease outbreaks, population displacement, natural disaster and nutritional crises. Between 2016 and 2019 Natalie was the Head of Emergency Operations for MSF in Paris, during which time MSF was part of the response to the world’s 2ndlargest Ebola outbreak in Eastern DRC. Between 2020 and 2022 she was a Director of Studies at Crash, an MSF thinktank, where the focus of her reflection was MSF’s positioning and practices relating to epidemic response, particularly Ebola. Natalie holds a medical degree from Cambridge University and Imperial College London. She also holds an MA in the History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge, and an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS London.

Sorcha O’Callaghan, Director Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Sorcha O’Callaghan is the Director of the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI, one of the world’s leading think tanks on humanitarian affairs. She leads HPG’s strategy, representation and fundraising for research on rights in crises, humanitarian system reform, and resilience in climate and conflict affected environments. A specialist in displacement, civilian protection and humanitarian action, she has worked extensively in East Africa and her policy, academic and media work has been published widely. Prior to HPG she was Head of Humanitarian Policy at the British Red Cross and previously coordinated the Sudan Advocacy Coalition, an NGO policy and advocacy consortium in Sudan. With a background in law, Sorcha has also worked in the refugee and asylum sector in Ireland.

Sonia Walia, Senior Health Advisor, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance

Sonia Walia is a Senior Health Advisor for USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), which leads the US Government’s international disaster assistance efforts. With a mandate to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the impact of disasters, BHA monitors, mitigates, and responds to global hazards and humanitarian needs. As a Senior Health Advisor, Ms. Walia supports the Bureau’s responses through humanitarian health technical assistance, providing technical leadership and guidance within the US Government and globally. She has responded to complex emergencies and natural disasters for over 15 years, including South Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma, and Indonesia. Ms. Walia also served on USAID’s COVID-19 Task Force as an advisor under the Program and Strategic Planning Pillar. During the West Africa Ebola Response, she served as the Team Lead in Sierra Leone for the Disaster Assistance Response Team and deployed multiple times to support USAID’s response to Ebola in Northeast DRC. She continues to be very active in the Global Health Cluster and sits on its Strategic Advisory Group. She works across the US Government’s interagency to educate on and advocate for humanitarian health assistance. Ms. Walia holds a Respiratory Therapy degree from the Medical College of Georgia and Master of Public Health degree from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Subscribe to READY’s email list to receive future announcements about training opportunities, webinars, and other updates.

This event is hosted by the READY initiative, led by Save the Children, and funded by the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.