Announcing New Advisory Group Members

Akiko Mera is the current Executive Director of Medecins du Monde in Japan. In this role, she is working to ensure access to health for al. She is firmly committed to the people’s movement, empowering communities and creating open dialogues with different constituencies.

She has been active with various grassroots organizations both nationally and internationally to raise awareness, advocate and mobilize people in food security and access to health. Since the achievement of UHC will require a global solidary movement, Akiko has worked with and led national and global civil society networks including the Japan Civil Society Organizations network on Global Health (GII/IDI) and the Japan Citizen’s Network for TICAD, SDGs Japan.

Denis Godlevskiy is a co-founder and Board Member of the Health Advocacy Coalition (HAC), a non-profit organization promoting UHC principles in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region. He is also a regional coordinator for International Treatment Preparedness Coalition in EECA (ITPC EECA), a network of activists advocating for access to life-saving HIV, HCV and TB treatment and services.

Denis focuses on community involvement into public health by promoting and developing projects such as community-led monitoring of government procurements, and removal of the intellectual property barriers in access to medicines.

Harjyot Khosa is currently working as Senior Technical Adviser at International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), South Asia Regional Office. Previously, she has worked as a Regional Advocacy Adviser at India HIV/AIDS Alliance. She has managed and coordinated dynamically with sex workers, women who use drugs, LGBTIQ+, people who use drugs, children and young people and PLHIV communities, to strengthen all aspects of SRHR, TB and HIV care, support, prevention programs, across south Asia.

She is currently serving as one of the CSO representatives on the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. She is also serving as a CSO representative on the Scientific Working Group for the Global Pandemic Preparedness and Response Scheme (I-DAIR).

Dr. Jimmy Nzau is a physician and global health practitioner with 19 years of experience at global, regional and national levels in both humanitarian and international development. His experience spans social protection, education, though his specialization is RMNCH, family planning, adolescent health and development, comprehensive abortion care, health systems strengthening with extensive work and experience supporting civil society and faith-based organizations to advance policies and legislations for a supportive environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to joining Pathfinder as Global Medical Director, Dr Jimmy worked as a senior leader at CARE International and led the implementation of RMNCH/FP and policy-advocacy initiatives in more than 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA and Asia. He has also led the development of CARE’s SRHR regional strategies in East, Central and Sub-Saharan Africa, West Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia.

Sanaa Belabbes is a National Board member of Association de Lutte Contre le Sida (ALCS), one of the largest NGOs fighting against HIV in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and a founding member of Coalition Plus. Before joining the National Board, Sanaa was a project manager at ALCS and worked on projects on access to healthcare for key populations and capacity building of other NGOs in the MENA region. 

She is currently a faculty member of the Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences (Casablanca, Morocco), responsible of an executive MBA of Healthcare Management. She is also a member of a knowledge center where she works on evidence based research for decision-making and public health policies. 

Yaye Sophiétou Diop is an advocacy and strategic communications specialist at Speak Up Africa with over nine years of experience in public health issues.

Holder of a master’s degree in strategic communication, Sophiétou is responsible for overseeing the advocacy strategy across programs on sanitation, Neglected Tropical Diseases, immunization, global health research and development, and gender as well as civil society engagement across these issue areas. Her work focuses mainly on formative research, strategy development, training, and coaching in the implementation of communication and advocacy activities.

Zahedul Islam is the Director of Treatment, Procurement, and Supply Management at the Alliance for Public Health (APH), Ukraine. As a member of the senior management team in APH, he is responsible for managing all treatment programs (HIV, TB, HepC) and all procurement, including for Global Fund Grants to Ukraine. He also contributes to the country-level efforts to ensure the continuity of all services during the COVID-19 emergency and in the ongoing humanitarian crises due to the Russian attack on Ukraine.

He has over twenty years of wide experience with humanitarian organizations in developing countries around the world. His key areas of expertise are in strategic thinking, program design, development and management with a focus to achieve timely deliverables with technical integrity.