Acting together for health: the role of digital tools and inclusion practices
The George Institute for Global Health is delighted to invite you to our hybrid public event, Acting together for health: the role of digital tools and inclusion practices, taking place on Monday March 2 from 12:30 – 14:30 CET/17:00 – 19:00 IST.
Social participation – defined by WHO as empowering people, communities, and civil society through inclusive participation in decision-making processes that affect health across the policy cycle and at all levels of the system – is essential for building resilient, people-centred health systems and achieving universal health coverage (UHC) as well as other Sustainable Development Goals related to equality, partnership and progress.
For The George Institute’s Social Participation for Health Engagement, Research and Empowerment (SPHERE) project, digital platforms – such as messaging apps and social media – have become vital tools for enabling participation where geography, safety, or social barriers limit in-person engagement. As digital platforms increasing shape how communities connect, organize, advocate, and participate in decisions that affect their health, understanding their potential – and their limitations – has never been more important.
This hybrid public event brings together global partners from the SPHERE project and newly-initiated SUNWAI project to explore how digital platforms can support inclusive and meaningful social participation for health, especially for hard-to-reach groups. The event will also highlight the importance of systematically documenting social participation for health efforts to support learning, knowledge sharing, and effective monitoring and evaluation of social participation for health at sub-national, national and global levels.
This discussion is especially timely given that in May 2026 at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, Member States will review progress on the implementation of the 2024 WHA resolution, Social Participation for UHC, health and well-being. By sharing concrete experiences from SPHERE and looking forward to the upcoming work of SUNWAI, this event will contribute practical insights into how well-documented, inclusive, community-driven and digitally enable approaches can accelerate implementation of this resolution.
The session will include:
- Case studies from Argentina, India and Vietnam showcasing inclusive practices and the use of digital tools to strengthen social participation for health.
- A panel discussion with SPHERE and SUNWAI partners, focusing on how digital tools can build advocacy capacity and how documenting participation efforts can support the implementation of the WHA resolution.
- Two interactive Q&As with all speakers – one immediately after the case study presentations and another after the panel discussion.
Speakers and Moderator
Nadir Cardozo
Activist and member of the Association of Transvestites, Transsexuales and Transgender People of Argentina (ATTTA)
Nadir Cardozo is the lead of the Trans Team within the Community Engagement area of the Implementation Research Division at Fundación Huésped (Argentina). She is also the coordinator of ATTTA (Argentine Association of Transvestites, Transsexuals, and Transgender People) in the City of Buenos Aires, and serves as Argentina’s representative to REDLACTRANS, the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Trans People. She has been working since 2012 to promote access to healthcare and human rights for the trans community in Argentina and across Latin America.
Paloma Loreti Gambaccini
Public Advocacy Analyst, Fundacion Huesped
Paloma Loreti Gambaccini is a member of the Advocacy team at Fundación Huésped (Argentina). She is a Law student and holds a postgraduate diploma in Comprehensive Sexuality Education from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), where she also serves as a student teaching assistant in Human Rights and Guarantees. She currently works on public advocacy projects and strategies, as well as on dialogue with public institutions and civil society organizations, focusing on ensuring access to healthcare from a human rights perspective.
Nguyen Thi Kim Dung
Deputy Director, SCDI
Shweta Marathe
Researcher, The George Institute for Global Health
Shweta Marathe is a health systems researcher currently serving as a Consultant at The George Institute for Global Health, India. She previously worked as a Senior Research Officer with SATHI, a Pune-based NGO in India. She holds a postgraduate degree in Hospital and Healthcare Management and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Community Health and brings nearly 15 years of experience in community-based and health systems–level empirical research. She is a recipient of the prestigious iHPSR Fellowship (2022). Her work focuses on health system performance, governance and accountability, participatory processes, gender and health workforce, and public–private engagements in low-resource settings. Methodologically, she specialises in qualitative research and innovative approaches such as witness seminars. She also serves as academic editor for PLOS Global Public Health.
Margaret Lubaale
Executive Director, Health NGO’s Network (HENNET), Kenya
Dr Margaret Lubaale is the Chief Executive Officer of the Health NGOs’ Network (HENNET), Kenya’s leading coalition bringing together civil society organisations working across the health sector in all 47 counties. She is an accomplished development and public health leader with more than 20 years of progressive experience designing, managing and strengthening large-scale health and community programmes.
Before joining HENNET, Dr Lubaale held senior leadership positions with several international development organisations including Winrock International, ChildFund International, Pathfinder International and Plan International. Over the course of her career, she has provided strategic direction to teams implementing programs in maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, HIV, water, sanitation and hygiene, child protection, prevention of gender-based violence, education and broad community development. She is widely recognized for her strong leadership, policy engagement, partnership-building and communication skills, and for her ability to coordinate multi-stakeholder initiatives that advance national health priorities. Under her stewardship, HENNET continues to champion evidence-based advocacy, strengthen civil society collaboration and amplify the voice of more than 120 member organisations in national health policy processes.
Jamal Siddiqui
Founder, TransMen Collective
Jamal Siddiqui is the CEO of NavHill Foundation and is a co-founder and CEO of Transmen Collective, where he leads research-driven, community-centered initiatives that translate lived experiences into sustainable, system-level change. He is a technology professional turned systems-focused social impact leader with over a decade of experience across corporate, nonprofit, and community-led sectors.
With a background in computer science, Jamal previously worked with organizations such as Wells Fargo, where he specialized in automation, systems reliability, and data-informed decision-making. His corporate experience in workflow automation, cloud systems, and cross-functional collaboration informs his approach to designing scalable, accountable social interventions.
Across his career from technology strategy and program management to community organizing, Jamal has focused on strengthening institutional systems while centering marginalized communities. His work integrates systems analysis, grounded data, and leadership development to build durable, people-first solutions that address structural gaps and create long-term impact.
Gabriele Pastorino
Health Systems Adviser, World Health Organization
Gabriele Pastorino is an economist specialized in health systems and policies. He began his career in academia at the Centre for Research on Health and Social Care Management at Bocconi University in Milan and at IRDES – the Institute for Research and Information in Health Economics – in Paris. Since 2006, he has been working internationally, initially with non-governmental organizations and, from 2008, with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, where he established the Health Systems and Policy Monitor (HSPM).
In 2017, he joined WHO/Europe, where he led the health systems governance programme and developed new work streams on social participation and private sector engagement. During the COVID19 pandemic, he coordinated the health systems response within the WHO/Europe Incident Management Support Team (IMST) and supported the Secretariat of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development (Monti Commission). Since 2022, he has been associated with the WHO European Wellbeing Economy Initiative and serves as editor of the WHO country deep dive series on the well-being economy.
Since 2024, he has been based at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, within the Performance, Financing and Delivery Department. He leads the global work on the implementation of the World Health Assembly resolution on Social Participation for UHC, Health and Wellbeing.
Khuat Thi Hai Oanh
Advisory Group, SUNWAI and Executive Director of SCDI
Host: Dr. Devaki Nambiar
Program Director, Healthier Societies Strategy, The George Institute for Global
Health
Dr. Devaki Nambiar is Program Director at the George Institute for Global Health India with appointments at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India, the University of New South Wales, Australia and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, USA. For two decades, she has led mixed-methods research, technical assistance, training and capacity-strengthening related to health policy and systems, with an emphasis on health equity and the social determinants of health. She has a passion for and commitment to social participation for health and is part of the Secretariat of the Social Participation for Health: Engagement Research and Empowerment (SPHERE) Consortium (www.spheretogether.org). She completed her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009
Moderator: Neena Joshi
Senior Program Manager, SPHERE, The George Institute for Global Health
Neena JoshiNeena Joshi is the Senior Project Manager of the Social Participation for Health, Engagement, Research and Empowerment (SPHERE) consortium, at The George Institute for Global Health, which brings together civil society, health and academic organizations providing support for social participation and community action for health in and around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She is a global health professional with over six years of experience working at international organizations, think tanks and in academia.
Neena holds a Master of Science in Global Health from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and is originally from Chicago, Illinois. She is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
If you plan to attend the event in person, please confirm your participation by emailing Charu Khatter Sharma at csharma@georgeinstitute.org.in.
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