Global Health Diplomacy & Cooperation
The Task Force aims to identify key principles and make recommendations to strengthen global governance and multilateral cooperation to build back better, paying particular attention to global health governance and science diplomacy.
The Task Force will underline why partnerships and international collaboration among policymakers and scientists are needed to respond to the health, economic, and humanitarian crises caused by the pandemic. Supporting the United Nations as the key body for global coordination and concerted action is fundamental to the group's vision.
The Task Force will explore lessons learned and good practices that emerged from the pandemic to help shape a more effective multilateral system post-COVID-19. In particular, the Task Force will identify key principles that may guide the rejuvenation of the multilateral system. Additional priorities include the need to strengthen existing global governance structures to support a green, inclusive, and resilient economic recovery, as well as ensuring fairness and equity around access to vaccine(s) and treatment(s) once they become available.
Publications of the Global Health Diplomacy & Cooperation Task Force express the findings, results, and views of members of the Global Health Diplomacy & Cooperation Task Force. They do not reflect the findings, results, and views of Commissioners not engaged on the Task Force or of the Lancet family of journals or other publication outlets unless explicitly specified. The Global Health Diplomacy & Cooperation Task Force does not contribute to other publications or statements issued by the Lancet COVID-19 Commission or the Task Forces or to other publications in the Lancet family of journals or other publication outlets, unless explicitly specified.
Task Force members serve in their individual capacities, on an honorary basis. The Secretariat of the Global Health Diplomacy & Cooperation Task Force is hosted by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), Columbia University.
Task Force Publications:
Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa (Co-chair)
Former President
UN General Assembly (Ecuador)
María Fernanda Espinosa is an academic, diplomat and politician with more than 30 years of professional experience in academia, non-governmental and international organizations, and has had leadership positions within the Government of Ecuador. MORE
Dr. Muhammad Pate (Co-chair)
Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population
The World Bank (USA)
Muhammad Ali Pate is the Global Director, Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Global Practice of the World Bank and the Director of Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF), based in Washington DC. MORE
Dr. Lan Xue (Co-chair)
Distinguished Professor and Dean, Schwarzman College (China)
Dr. Lan Xue is a Cheung Kong Chair Distinguished Professor and Dean of Schwarzman College. In Tsinghua University, he also serves as a Deputy Director of Strategic Research Institute for Engineering, Science and Technology, Director of China Institute for S&T Policy, Co-Director of Global Institute for SDGs. MORE
Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora
Secretary-General
International IDEA (Costa Rica)
Casas-Zamora has more than 25 years of experience in democratic governance as a researcher, analyst, educator, consultant and public official. He is strongly focused on electoral systems and democratic institutions—with practical experience as a high-level public official in his home country as well as multilateral organizations. MORE
Professor Simiao Chen
Head of Research Unit, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health at Heidelberg University (Germany)
Professor Chen is the Head of Research Unit for Population Medicine, Economics and Policy at Heidelberg Institute of Global Health at Heidelberg University in Germany, a Visiting Professor at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College in China, and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow. MORE
Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron
Co-Chair of UHC2030, Honorary President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and former Senator in the Mexican Congress (Mexico)
Gabriela Cuevas Barron studied Political Science at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), in addition to having participated in numerous programs and diplomas related to public administration. She was elected Federal Member of Parliament for the first time when she was 21 years old. MORE
Ms. Elke Dall
Project Coordinator, Centre for Social Innovation (Austria)
Elke Dall is project coordinator of S4D4C “Using Science for/in Diplomacy for Addressing Global Challenges,” a Horizon 2020 funded project that brings together research and practice in science diplomacy. She joined the Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) in 2003 and currently represents ZSI in Brussels since February 2018. MORE
Dr. Roopa Dhatt
Executive Director, Women in Global Health (USA and India)
Dr Roopa Dhatt is a passionate advocate for gender equality in global health and a leading voice in the movement to correct the gender imbalance in global health leadership. She is also a practicing Internal Medicine physician at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. MORE
Dr. Peter Drobac
Director, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (UK)
A medic, global public health specialist and social entrepreneur, Dr. Peter Drobac is the Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford. The Skoll Centre works to advance transformative social entrepreneurship through education, networking and research within the MBA core classes and electives. MORE
Dr. Luiz Augusto Galvão Senior Researcher, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) (Brazil)
Dr. Luiz Augusto Galvão is a medical doctor with a Master’s and a Doctorate degree in Public Health. He is currently a senior researcher at the Center for Global Health of Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), conducting research in Social Policy, Science, Technology, Environmental Politics and International Relations. MORE
Ms. Paula Johns
Director General, ACT Promoção da Saúde (Brazil)
Paula Johns was born and grew up in Brazil. She obtained a Master of Arts Degree in English and International Development Studies in Denmark, at Roskilde University Center. She is the co-founder and director of the ACT Health Promotion (former Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use), a Brazilian coalition of over a thousand members. MORE
Mr. Richard Kinley
President, Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (Canada)
Richard Kinley was a senior official at the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) from 1993 to 2017. He served as Deputy Executive Secretary from 2006 to 2017 and was intimately involved in the development of UNFCCC as an organization from its establishment and in its management and operations. MORE
Dr. Celso Lafer
Member of the Board of Advisers, International IDEA (Brazil)
Celso Lafer is professor emeritus of the University of São Paulo (USP) and was a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and General Theory of Law at the same university. Dr Lafer was a member of the Deliberative Council (2005-2011) of the Institute of International Relations of the USP. MORE
Dr. W. Ian Lipkin
Director, Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University (USA)
Dr. Lipkin is internationally recognized for global health contributions through innovative methods he developed for infectious diseases diagnosis, surveillance, and discovery, and developed gene capture technologies. MORE
Dr. Ok Pannenborg
Chair of the Global Advisory Board, Capacity Plus (Netherlands)
Ok Pannenborg has been active in global health for over fifty years. He lived and worked in many countries in Africa and Asia, working, among others, on malaria and leprosy, vaccines & drug development, reproductive health, health workforce and medical education innovation, and medical research. MORE
Ms. Joy Phumaphi
Co-chair of the Independent Expert Review Group, World Health Organization (Botswana)
As a finance professional, Joy Phumaphi has served the people of Botswana as Principal Local Government Auditor, responsible for all Local Authorities in the country. As a Member of Parliament she had portfolio responsibility first for Lands and Housing, and then for Health. MORE
Ms. Renata Reis
Deputy General Director Doctors Without Borders (MSF) (Brazil)
Renata Reis is a Policy / Advocacy professional with 15 years of experience. She is currently the Deputy General Director (Latin America) in the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) - Belgium, where she works in contexts such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Brazil. She was responsible for Institutional Relations and advocacy at MSF Brazil for 5 years. MORE
Dr. Aromar Revi Director, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)
Aromar Revi is the Director of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) India’s prospective interdisciplinary national University and proposed Institution of Eminence, focused on urbanisation. He is a global practice and thought leader, and educator with 35 years of interdisciplinary experience in sustainable development, public policy, governance and finance, human settlements, global environmental and technological change. MORE
Ms. Angela Saini
Science Journalist, author and broadcaster (UK)
Angela Saini is an award-winning science journalist, author and broadcaster. She presents radio and television programmes for the BBC, and her writing has appeared across the world, including in New Scientist, Prospect, The Sunday Times, Wired, and National Geographic. Angela's latest book, Superior: The Return of Race Science, was published in May 2019 to enormous critical acclaim, and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the Foyles Book of the Year. MORE
Dr. Devi Sridhar
Professor of Global Public Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh (UK)
Devi Sridhar is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh where she holds a Personal Chair in Global Public Health. She is Founding Director of the Global Health Governance Programme and holds a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award. Recipient of a Rhodes scholarship, Devi holds an MPhil and a DPhil from Oxford University as well as a B.S. from the University of Miami's Honors Medical Program. MORE
Dr. Akihito Watabe Executive Master in Change, INSEAD (Japan)
Dr. Watabe is a change agent trainee of the Executive Master in Change, INSEAD. He is also a core team member of UHC2030, a multi-stakeholder partnership for universal health coverage (UHC). He has been leading UHC2030’s global health diplomacy and political coordination work, such as the UHC Movement Political Advisory Panel, the UN High-level Meeting on UHC, the International UHC Day, and the State of UHC Commitment. MORE
Professor Jiuchang Wei Professor of Risk Analysis, Risk Response Strategy, and Global Risk Mitigation, School of Management, and Deputy Dean of School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China (China)
Professor Wei is a professor of Risk Analysis, Risk Response Strategy, and Global Risk Mitigation, at the School of Management, and the deputy dean of School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China. MORE
Dr. Ngaire Woods Founding Dean, Blavatnik School of Government (New Zealand)
Professor Ngaire Woods is the founding Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government and Professor of Global Economic Governance at Oxford University. Her research focuses on how to enhance the governance of organizations, the challenges of globalization, global development, and the role of international institutions and global economic governance. MORE
Task Force Staff
Ms. Neena Joshi
Consultant, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Neena Joshi serves as a consultant on the Lancet COVID-19 Commission where she supports the Global Health Diplomacy and Cooperation, Green Recovery and Fiscal Policy and Financial Markets Task Forces. She provides research, writing, and editorial support to the Global Health Diplomacy and Cooperation and Green Recovery Task Forces and the Lancet COVID-19 Commission as a whole. MORE