Health - About us

 

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​​​​The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Health Network brings together SDC staff from country offices and headquarters (Bern, Switzerland), as well as implementing partners and actors from other organisations around the world that are active in health cooperation, or in strengthening health systems, fostering greater equality in the access to health-related goods and services and/or progressing towards Universal Health Coverage, with focus on lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The SDC Health Network is primarily a platform to support the implementation of SDC int​erventions in Health cooperation. The platform is however also key in capturing, processing and sharing knowledge and experiences, including results and key lessons, between colleagues, partners and other actors, from global to local levels. This includes, but is not limited to, programmatic and policy experience, bilateral and multilateral (Swiss) cooperation programmes, humanitarian aid activities, global initiative partner activitie​​s, and Swiss-based stakeholders and NGOs active in health.​ 



Mission

  • Facilitate exchange of experiences between countries and regions... for positioning and advocating the releva​nce of health in poverty reduction.​

  • Provide access to resources and technical expertise.....by using lessons learned to improve our work, developing incentives and stimulate innovations.
  • Foster field-field exchange... among practitioners, and network communication, sharing knowledge between SDC units and partners who likely know “how it works”, and thereby seek synergies with other SDC thematic networks and communities of practice.
  • Provide easy access to information...on international debates on relevant health issues.
  • Facilitate informed advice...for Swiss/SDC positions at board, institutional and technical level meetings.
  • Coordinate and foster communication and collaboration...on health programmes between operational fieldwork and decision-makers in Parliament.
  • ​Offer guidance and promote exchange... on priorities in health and on positioning SDC/Switzerland in international and global health debates.








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​Our activities
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​​The Health Network publishes quarterly newsletters about health initiatives, projects and events both from SDC and its partners, with contributions from Health Network members. In addition, we publish Newsbriefs whenever there are relevant news to be shared. ​​

     > Click here to read our latest Newsletters and Newsbriefs

The Network also creates opportunities to discuss latest developments and trends in the health domain, through online and face-to-face events.

     > Check out the events section ​








​​​Meet the team
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​Focal points

Olivier Praz, SDC Health Focal Point, Senior Policy Advisor​​​

​​Olivier joined the SDC Health Network team in September 2019. He has a technical
background in international relations (social sciences, contemporary history and international law). Olivier has been working for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs since 2005 and hold several positions as political officer and diplomat in Nigeria, Paris OECD, Bern and Cuba. His experience in international cooperation started with multilateral organizations with a specific focus on global health governance. As such, he represented SDC at the Global Fund Board, the World Health Assembly and other specific governance bodies of global health partners. He was later deputy director of the Dar es Salaam office, in charge of bilateral health cooperation programmes. He held the same position in Havana with focus on local governance, food security and humanitarian aid. In his current position, he manages various partnerships on R&D and equitable access to medical technologies, including the recent Swiss engagement for greater access to COVID-19 diagnostics in low and lower-income countries. Olivier has a Master in International Relations from the Graduate Institute in Geneva. He recently updated his academic education with a certificate on Global Health Delivery from the Harvard University.
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Carla Koch
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​​Carla Koch is the health advisor for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation's bilateral programmes in Southern and Eastern Africa. She manages the Safeguard Young People programme expansion from HQ in close coordination with colleagues based in field offices. Carla also works for the Global Programme Health, which manages SDC's global health initiatives. Previously, Carla was the SDC Focal Point for WHO, the Global Fund and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. She has also been responsible for SDC's institutional relationship with UNFPA in the past. Carla holds a degree in International Affairs and Governance and a CEMS Master degree in International Management.

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Network support

Lara Sponagel, Academic Trainee​
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​Lara has been working as an academic trainee for the Global Programme Health and the Global Programme Food Systems since February 2023. She maintains the shareweb as well as the network and is responsible for the newsletter and the newsbrief. During her Master of Science in Global Health she has acquired comprehensive knowledge of the diverse landscape of global and public health. With different internships and positions within academia/research, NGO’s or international organizations (like UNHCR) she was able to gain first insights international cooperation and is eager to learn more. 
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​David Streiff, Network Facilitator
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As an Evaluation and Learning Advisor at Helvetas, David supports Helvetas colleagues at head office and in the field in setting up Monitoring and Evaluation systems and pushes a results-based management approach.

David holds a master’s degree in Geography from the University of Bern, and previously worked with People In Need (PIN) in the Philippines, with Welthungerhilfe (WHH) in Germany and South Sudan and since 2022 with Helvetas. David is experienced in conducting rapid needs assessments (market, WASH and food), setting-up digital monitoring systems and capacitating colleagues to use those as well as support project during the planning phase with establishing theories of change and translating these into logframes.		​
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The Health Network in a nutshell

Membership

The SDC Health Network gathers practitioners and experts from a diversity of geographical and institutional backgrounds working in health and other sectors linked to health (SDC, other Swiss Federal Offices, bilateral- and multilateral organisations, (I)NGOs, Academia, Foundations, Networks, etc.).



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