Over 25 WHO staff from more than 15 countries, and from across 3 WHO regions, were coached in key leadership skills that are needed for working within a public health emergency response setting, at a workshop in Istanbul from 17–21 May 2022.
The workshop, Leadership in Emergencies phase II, was organized by the WHO European Centre for Preparedness for Humanitarian and Health Emergencies (PHHE) together with WHO's Health Emergencies Programme offices in Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa. It was the culmination of a learning journey entitled Ready4Response.
The interactive workshop required participants to showcase their leadership, negotiation, critical-thinking, and team working skills. Participants had the opportunity to enhance and practice essential skills in a response setting by working in teams. Their objectives were to:
- coordinate with team members to deliver tasks and maintain team effectiveness
- solve problems and make decisions in a complex environment
- convey complex ideas using written and verbal communication skills
- ·negotiate an agreement with stakeholders.
Participants came from Amman, Beirut, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Pakistan, Palestine, Republic of Congo, Serbia, Somalia, Switzerland, Tunis, Türkiye, Yemen and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Global preparedness without borders
At the opening of the workshop, Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General, WHO Emergency Response, highlighted the importance of new young leaders who could use their knowledge to lead technical support in the Member States. The participants were also welcomed by Dr Batyr Berdyklychev, WHO Representative in Türkiye. He emphasized that, with participants coming from 3 WHO regions, this provided a good opportunity to share experiences and knowledge and build professional networks between colleagues.
Dr Irshad Shaikh, a.i. Head of Office, PHHE, said, “As the world slowly transitions away from the acute adversity of the pandemic and takes stock of lessons learnt, leadership and governance – also a core capacity under IHR 2005 – stand out yet again as critical for the capacity building of the health care workforce to future-proof against tomorrow’s emergencies, including future pandemics.”
“The world faces an unprecedented confluence of emergencies: response and recovery from COVID-19 compounded by relentless global changes in climate, land and biodiversity; conflict in the heart of Europe with massive displacement and fears of global food insecurity; and protracted frozen conflicts in Yemen, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, to name just a few,” he adds. “These underscore the need for a new vision for global preparedness truly without borders.”
Workshops like this one are part of collaborative efforts by PHHE in Istanbul, funded by Türkiye, to improve preparedness across sectors, within and between Member States. PHHE is also delighted to welcome WHO staff from 3 regions in alignment with the vision of WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, and Dr Fahrettin Koca, Türkiye’s Minister of Health, for PHHE to serve as a catalyst for best practices in preparedness, not just in Europe, but also beyond.