IGHD at the World Health Summit 2026
From Crisis to Resilience: IGHD Brings Young Voices and People-Centred Health to Berlin
IGHD joins global health leaders at the World Health Summit 2026 in Berlin, with its President and a Junior Associate Delegation engaging on equity, financing and the road to universal health coverage.
From 11 to 13 October 2026, Berlin is hosting one of the world's most important gatherings on global health. The World Health Summit (WHS) brings together heads of state, ministers, multilateral leaders, researchers, civil society and young professionals. Their shared question: how can health systems move from crisis to resilience?
For the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD), the Summit is more than a conference. It is a chance to carry the priorities of the communities we serve into the rooms where global health decisions take shape.
A Summit Built on Resilience
Founded in 2009 and organised by the WHS Foundation, a subsidiary of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the World Health Summit has become a leading forum for global health policy. The 2026 edition runs under the theme "From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health", with a focus on turning innovation into more equitable, future-ready health systems.
The Summit features more than 75 sessions and around 400 speakers, with over 4,000 participants expected on site at the Hotel InterContinental Berlin and many more online. Speakers include Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima and Gavi CEO Dr Sania Nishtar.
The programme centred on six themes:
- Global health architecture
- Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response
- Health equity for women, children and youth
- Future-ready health systems
- Conflict and health
- Environmental drivers of health
Africa's voice is prominent this year. Kenyan psychiatrist Prof. Lukoye Atwoli served as WHS International President 2026, and a WHS Regional Meeting took place in Nairobi in April on reimagining Africa's health systems.
Why the Summit Matters to IGHD
The Summit's themes mirror IGHD's own work. IGHD exists to inspire people, accelerate development and transform lives, with a strong focus on health equity, gender and leadership. Each of the Summit's priorities connects to an area where IGHD is already active.
Resilient health systems. IGHD supports community resilience in Biombo and Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, with backing from the Sanofi Foundation. The Summit's call for future-ready systems speaks directly to this work.
Evidence and research capacity. IGHD has led a Research Capacity and Skills Assessment in Guinea-Bissau with the University of Oxford and The Global Health Network. Strong local evidence is the foundation of any resilient system.
Fairer global health governance. IGHD's study with the Geneva Graduate Institute on inequities in global health governance feeds into one of the Summit's central debates: who sets priorities, and who pays.
One Health and pandemic preparedness. As a member of the PREZODE Steering Committee, IGHD works on preventing zoonotic disease emergence, a core part of the Summit's preparedness agenda.
Women and the next generation. Through the Bolsa de Estudos Professora Eduarda Cabral (DADA) scholarship for young women and its Executive Course in Global Health Diplomacy, IGHD invests in the leaders who will carry this agenda forward.
Universal health coverage. IGHD President Dr Magda Robalo chairs UHC2030, the global multi-stakeholder platform for universal health coverage. This places IGHD close to the conversations that will shape the 2027 UN High-Level Meeting on UHC.
IGHD in Berlin
IGHD takes part in the Summit at two levels: institutional leadership and a delegation of young professionals.
A Junior Associate Delegation
IGHD sent a four-member Junior Associate Delegation, reflecting its belief that young professionals belong at the table where global health is shaped:
- Darell Addison, Policy and Advocacy Junior Associate
- Danah Tapé, Policy and Advocacy Junior Associate
- Aisha Pereira Badji, Junior Research Associate
- Silvanus Manyala, Social Media and Communications Associate
Together, the delegation covered policy, research and communication. They followed sessions on governance, financing, equity and resilient systems, and shared the Summit's key messages with IGHD's partners and communities.
Engagements on the Summit's margins
- One Health. IGHD will be represented at bioMérieux's One Health roundtable, which explores how human, animal and environmental health can be addressed together.
- Development finance. IGHD met the European Investment Bank to discuss financing for resilient health systems.
- Disability inclusion and UHC. In her capacity as UHC2030 Chair, Dr Robalo met Humanity & Inclusion and disability rights advocates. Discussions focused on making universal health coverage work for persons with disabilities, and on people-centred care as the frame for essential services.
- Other ongoing engagements
People at the centre
One message carries across these conversations: health systems must be built around people, not diseases. As budgets tighten and essential service packages narrow, IGHD will keep making the case that recovery, rehabilitation and participation are part of health, not optional extras.
Looking Ahead: The Road to 2027
Berlin is a step, not an end point. In September 2027, world leaders will meet in New York for the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. The political declaration agreed there will shape national health priorities for years.
IGHD will carry the lessons of the Summit into that process. That means pressing for health systems that protect people from financial hardship, include those who are least heard, and treat every person as a whole human being.
For our Junior Associates, the work continues at home. The ideas exchanged in Berlin will feed into IGHD's research, advocacy and capacity-building in Guinea-Bissau and beyond.
Follow IGHD for updates and reflections from the Summit, and visit www.ighd-gb.org to learn more about our work.
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