Global Health Otherwise (GHO), an informal network spearheaded by Dr Luchuo Engelbert Bain, aims to “critically dissect the meanings of decolonization of global health practice, research, and funding”. GHO spoke to The Geneva Learning Foundation’s Reda Sadki.
Please tell us about yourself and your area of specialization in global health
I am the founder and president of the Geneva Learning Foundation, a Swiss non-profit research-and-development organization and “think-and-do” tank. I have over two decades of experience in forging multi-disciplinary teams to invent and execute new ways to lead change through learning.
My research and practice have explored the significance of learning and leadership to achieve impact, driven by my conviction that education is a powerful philosophy for change in the Digital Age.
What does it take to make a great career in your area of expertise?
Success requires understanding that most significant learning contributing to improved performance takes place outside formal training, through informal and incidental learning between peers.
One must be willing to challenge conventional approaches and experiment with new models that leverage digital networks while maintaining human connections. It’s essential to stay curious, embrace complexity, and focus on enabling real-world impact rather than just knowledge transfer.
What are the key challenges in your field, and how can these be overcome?
Key challenges include:
- Traditional top-down approaches that fail to reach scale or drive sustainable change
- Disconnect between global expertise and local realities
- Limited resources and access in low- and middle-income countries
These can be overcome through:
- Peer learning networks that connect practitioners across boundaries
- Digital platforms that enable massive participation while maintaining quality
- Focus on intrinsic motivation rather than external incentives
- Emphasis on local action and contextual solutions
In your view, what needs to change in your main area of interest, and how should we approach this?
The field of global health learning needs to move beyond conventional training approaches to embrace more dynamic, networked models that empower local practitioners. We need to:
- Recognize health workers as knowledge creators, not just recipients
- Leverage digital tools to enable peer learning at scale
- Focus on supporting locally-led change rather than imposing solutions
- Build learning cultures that foster continuous improvement
Can you share any real-world example success stories of your work?
A notable success was the COVID-19 Peer Hub, which connected over 6,000 health professionals from 86 countries to share strategies for maintaining immunization services during the pandemic.
Within three months, a third of participants had implemented recovery plans. The Movement for Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) has grown to over 16,000 members across 100+ countries, demonstrating the power of peer learning to drive change.
What advice would you give to policymakers and practitioners dealing with these issues?
- Invest in digital infrastructure that enables peer learning
- Trust and empower local health workers as agents of change
- Design for scale from the start
- Focus on creating conditions for learning rather than controlling outcomes
- Embrace complexity and uncertainty rather than seeking simple solutions
What do you think the future holds for the specific global health issue?
The future of global health learning will increasingly rely on networked approaches that blend formal and informal learning.
Digital platforms will continue to evolve, enabling more sophisticated forms of collaboration and knowledge sharing. Success will depend on our ability to support locally-led innovation while maintaining connections across geographic and institutional boundaries.
Any final thoughts you’d like to share with the younger generation of practitioners aspiring to get into this area of work?
For aspiring practitioners: Don’t be constrained by traditional models. The most powerful learning often happens through peer connections and real-world problem-solving.
Focus on building networks and communities that can support continuous learning and adaptation. Remember that in today’s complex world, no one person or institution has all the answers – success comes from our ability to learn and evolve together.