Global Health Futures | UNU-IIGH 2020-2021 Biennial Report

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

With a great deal of pride, I would also like to acknowledge the collective efforts of the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) staff and external faculty of consultants, visiting fellows, and interns for all their constant engagement during these difficult two years which have drastically forced us to change our way of working to a new virtual setting and adapting to new norms and lifestyles. A special thanks to Pascale Allotey, our director, for her spearheading of the work during these challenging times.

On the advice of the International Advisory Board, the Institute initiated a program of work to respond specifically to the impact of the pandemic on health systems, on gender relations, women and families and global health priorities, particularly within the context of low- and middle-income countries.

UNU-IIGH pivoted to the “new normal” while remaining grounded on its mandate to generate and translate health evidence for informed global policy, advancing research on gender and health, and strengthening capacity for local decision-making.

The impact of the pandemic has been profound. However, I have witnessed how the Institute has managed to respond and enhance its relevance and role in both the UN and the global health space. This was very much enabled by the strong support provided by the UNU Central Administration and the UN Country Team in Malaysia, who proved great professionalism in adapting and adjusting to new ways of working and ensuring partner engagement

We also acknowledge the generosity of the Government of Malaysia through the Ministry of Higher Education and our host Institution, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the Ministry of Health, and our multiple donors, partner institutions, and civil society stakeholders.

This report highlights all the Institute’s key achievements over the past two years, setting the scene for new goals and objectives for the next years to come. Thank you for your continued support of UNU-IIGH.

 

 

SHAPING THE GLOBAL HEALTH SPACE

The United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) is the designated UN think tank on global health.

We build global health knowledge and decision-making capacity and advance evidence-based policy on key health issues particularly in the Global South. Our research agenda responds to evidence and policy needs for health to meet the 2030 Agenda, in support of the United Nations system, Member States, and civil society organisations.

 

 

 

 

 

In 2019, our Institute kickstarted the implementation of a five-year strategic plan anchored on our long-term vision and role as an independent, neutral, research-based institute for the UN system and external stakeholders. Building on our strategic advantage and position vis-à-vis the UN and the global health eco-system, our strategy sets a goal to advance evidence-based policy on key issues related to sustainable development and health. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, we adapted and reprioritised our areas of work while continuing to deliver on our main strategic objectives of translating evidence to policy, generating policy-relevant analyses on gender and health, and strengthening capacity for local decision making especially in the Global South.

In this report, we share the progress we have made in the past two years and the next steps we are taking to shape the future of global health.

 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the relevance and critical role of UNU-IIGH not only in responding to the health challenges of today but also in shaping the future of global health.

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TRANSLATING EVIDENCE TO POLICY

Our Institute serves as a policy hub that supports UN agencies and other global health institutions to translate and disseminate global guidance for country-level decision makers.

Through co-designing and co-producing convening and communication initiatives with partners from the Global South, we ensure that evidence generated is inclusive and reflective of voices and priorities from the most affected people and regions, and is translated to policies that benefit them.

 

 

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Our evidence to policy translation work is captured in our key projects in 2020 and 2021:

 

 

 

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The Future of Aid Series was a collaboration with Wilton ParkJoep Lange Institute, the OECD Development CentreDevelopment Initiatives and Equal International. It focused on the changing nature of global public concessional finance. The dialogues and meetings conducted with development agencies, donors, and representatives from low-to-middle income countries (LMICs) spotlight critical discussions on the changing scope of investments for international development cooperation, including the need for traditional aid approaches to adapt to the demands of global health and pandemic response, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. One significant spinoff from the series has been the establishment of the Global Public Investment (GPI), which presents a new paradigm for coordinated global public finance management.

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A second spinoff has been the hosting of regional dialogues in the series Shifting Power in Global Health: Decolonising Discourses, which was co-convened with Development Reimagined and Wilton Park. Drawing on voices and lessons from the Global South, the series discusses ideas and visions from different groups on what a decolonised global health looks like and the role of South-South collaborations and contributions to the many paths to decolonising global health. This work is continuing with a focus on identifying and monitoring pathways to change.

 

 

 

The Institute, through our Director Pascale Allotey, co-chairs a Commission convened to drive transformative change in global health and gender. The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health, co-chaired with leading experts Sarah Hawkes from the UCL Centre for Gender and Global Health and As Sy Elhadji from the Kofi Annan Foundation, brings together practitioners and advocates representing a range of global health disciplines, geographies, and genders to produce an evidence-informed manifesto for action and accountability to achieve the shared goals of gender equality and health equity by 2030.

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While spearheading conversations to decolonise knowledge and funding, and drive change in gender and health equity, we also responded to the urgent demands of COVID-19 policy and evidence generation. In 2021, we co-chaired the Taskforce on Global Health and COVID-19 for T20 and co-authored three T20 policy briefs on EquityGender, and Schools and Education

We also continued to support knowledge translation for equitable healthcare access and outcomes on non-COVID-19 health service delivery including sexual and reproductive health services, and palliative care, among others. 

 

 

 

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These initiatives contribute to achieving our strategic objectives of translating evidence to policy by providing convening spaces to amplify a diversity of voices particularly from the Global South.

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GENERATING POLICY-RELEVANT ANALYSES ON GENDER AND HEALTH

Our Institute serves as a platform for the review of evidence and generation of policy-relevant analysis on the impact of gender mainstreaming on health systems, interventions, and outcomes.

Committed to advancing evidence-based policy on key issues relevant to health, we acknowledge the importance of gender mainstreaming in driving a positive shift in gender and health policies and approaches in the UN and its Member States.

 

 

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We engage in global health and gender evidence generation work through our key projects in 2020 and 2021:

 

 

 

 

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In 2021, we launched the Gender and Health Hub at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, setting into motion the first official partnership between UN University and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Hub builds a foundation to co-produce evidence that informs and supports global, regional, and national action on gender and health in substantial, innovative, and disruptive ways. We mobilise the academic, civil society and policy community to critically reflect on and chart an actionable research and practice agenda for COVID-19 and beyond, including meeting the objectives of the SDG3 GAP

Since its launch, the Hub has convened critical dialogues on gender and digital health, supported the development of gendered pandemic and health emergency responses through a guidance note to optimise COVID-19 vaccine deployment, and influenced the UN and other stakeholders’ gender action plans and policies through sharing key lessons and recommendations on what works in gender and health in the UN.

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Working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the BMJ, the Institute also co-produced the Collection on Women's Health and Gender Inequalities, which provides insights on how to advance women’s health and gender equality. Looking back at the past 25 years since the launch of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on Women, the series documents the successes, challenges and evidence-based strategies of the past decades and includes analyses of new and emerging threats to women’s health. The collection was launched at the World Health Summit 2020 and calls for change in women’s health at present and in the next 25 years.

 

 

 

In 2021, we also spearheaded the production of the UNU Gender Atlas, which showcases UN University's work on gender equality, highlighting the thematic and geographic scope across the 2030 Agenda and underscoring the importance of mainstreaming gender as part of achieving the SDGs.

 

 

 

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“The opportunity to co-produce a body of work that is responsive, actionable and targeted at delivering outcomes for gender equality, health and wellbeing, is incredibly exciting.”

-Pascale Allotey, UNU-IIGH Director

 

 

 

STRENGTHENING CAPACITY FOR LOCAL DECISION-MAKING

Our Institute serves as a hub for South-South capacity development of local decision makers and stakeholders to engage effectively with global health challenges.

Working with partners from the UN Country Team, the government, academe, and civil society, we formed and launched the Malaysian Global Health Consortium (MGHC) which leverages Malaysia's growing global health expertise and positions the country as a learning lab for health for LMICs in the region and globally.

 

 

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Our key projects in 2020 and 2021 highlight our work in strengthening capacity to generate and utilise evidence and expand network and collaborations in the Global South.

 

 

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One big step in Global South engagement is the launch of the Regional Training Centre for Implementation Research in the Western Pacificfunded by WHO-TDR and established through a consortium involving UNU-IIGH, the Institute for Health Systems Research under the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the University of Malaya. The Institute brings into this consortium a strong history of delivering training focused on identifying and alleviating barriers to effective healthcare delivery. The work of the Centre strengthens the pipeline of public health professionals graduating into research and management positions in the Western Pacific Region.

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Also with WHO-TDR Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, we started the groundwork for developing a new framework for Implementation Research Training in LMICs. We developed potential modalities of IR training from a series of workshops and consultative discussions with IR practitioners and professionals. The resulting framework demonstrates how IR training efforts can be improved substantively by realigning and forming stronger links between existing resources rather than through a fundamental shift in current strategies.

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In 2021, we also published the book Systems Thinking Analyses for Health Policy: A Malaysian Case Study (Cambridge University Press), co-authored with partner researchers and academics from the Ministry of Health Malaysia and several local universities. The book offers a critical reflection on the intersections and interactions of different players in the health sector, using Malaysia as a country case study to demonstrate the evolution of a health system from low-income developing status to one of the most resilient health systems today. A critical outcome of this work is the contribution of both the process and the book in the review of the Malaysian health system.

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We continue to promote South-South engagement through our various programmes such as the Working Local Thinking Global Seminar Series featuring the heads of UN agencies in Malaysia, the Global Health PhD FellowshipEarly Career Professionals Workshop Series and other capacity building initiatives in Malaysia. We could not have done this without the support of our trusted partners in our host country.

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Through our engagement with partners from other UN agencies, governments, academe, and civil society, we continue to see positive changes in building capacities and empowering talents in the Global South.

 

 

 

OUR GLOBAL REACH

In 2020 and 2021, UNU-IIGH had the unique opportunity to lead efforts and work with partners from UN agencies, government ministries, academic institutions, media, donors, and civil society organisations to carry out programmes and projects that contribute to the 2030 Agenda and address pressing challenges in global health including the COVID-19 pandemic. Our programme engagements in the past two years spanned diverse areas of work and geographic locations.

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RESOURCES

Our Institute takes pride in having a diverse and gender-balanced roster of talents composed of researchers, visiting fellows, consultants, academic programme and operations staff, and interns. In 2021, we had a total of 29 full-time personnel, 11 visiting fellows, and a network of over 130 consultants whom we rely on to extend our expertise in global health and other related disciplines.

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Our team also benefits from the guidance of the International Advisory Board (IAB), which convenes to review our operations and provide strategic advice. The Board is made up of a diverse group of renowned individuals from various backgrounds and experiences from our host country Malaysia and overseas.

 

 

 

The basic revenue for operating expenses of the United Nations University and the Institutes in the UNU system is generated by the investment income from the UNU Endowment Fund (UNUEF). The capital for UNUEF consists of voluntary contributions from governments, agencies, foundations and individual donors. Fiduciary responsibility for the investment of UNUEF rests with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. We acknowledge the generosity of the Government of Malaysia for the capital contribution to establish UNU-IIGH in Malaysia.

Below is a summary of the total income and expenditures of UNU-IIGH for the 2020-2021 biennium.

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2020 and 2021 were a time of adaptive change for the Institute. We pivoted to the new normal while remaining grounded on our mandate.

Thank you for being with us 

Position: Co -Founder of ENGAGE,a new social venture for the promotion of volunteerism and service and Ideator of Sharing4Good

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