MONROVIA — The former Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) continues to receive recognition both home and abroad from local and international bodies in both the private and public sectors.
The latest is from the e inaugural World Communities Forum, where he has been invited to speak on issues of public health concerns and health in general.
Taking place virtually across 23-24 March 2021, the inaugural event will feature groundbreaking conversations and interactive showcases from practitioners who are driving impact in marginalized communities, where traditional, top-down interventions are falling short.
The forum will be free and accessible globally to stream via www.worldcommunitiesforum.org, as well as being streamed live to socially-distanced, outdoor viewing stations, including in Nairobi’s Mathare slum.
The event has been programmed from the grassroots up, with local practitioners from around the world designing the stage content.
Programming will pair high-profile leaders, including Chelsea Clinton, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Darren Walker, Cecile Richards, Nick Kristof and Cheryl Dorsey as interviewers who will listen and learn from community-based leaders sharing insights and solutions from their paradigm-shifting work on the front lines of inequality and social change.
Darren Walker is the President of the Ford Foundation and will serve as active listener/moderator of the occasion. The Ford Foundation is the official sponsor of the high profile international forum.
Dr. Fallah, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Refuge Place International (RPI), will be alongside other participants including: Kennedy Odede, Founder, SHOFCO, WCF and Glenisse Pagan-Ortiz, Executive Director of Filantropia, Puerto Rico at the forum.
The forum is intended to showcase community-led solutions and connect these leaders to one another, forming a movement to share inspiration and challenges – creating a flow of ideas and impact (all programming has been created in collaboration with the grassroots leaders that form the Global Alliance for Communities).
It will propose immediate shifts in resources and financing towards community-led solutions, moving away from a paradigm that is inherently biased and prescriptive, towards one that promotes racial equity and recognizes deep-rooted community trust and leadership as the most powerful drivers of impact.
Furthermore, the initiative will encourage governments, policy leaders and funders to partner with, listen to, and scale up community-led solutions.
At the same time, Global Alliance for Communities will be publicly launched at the Forum alongside robust policy asks the coalition has created together.
The Global Alliance for Communities is a coalition of 150+ proximate leaders stretching across the globe, which aims to bring a community-based perspective to the global development agenda.
The Global Alliance is continuing to grow and will drive targeted actions to shift development and social entrepreneurship towards a more equitable paradigm that values locally-rooted leadership. Its immediate priorities include: support for COVID-19 recovery and elevating community leadership in order to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Organizers say the World Communities Forum will be an annual event, continuing to highlight the grassroots solutions that drive real impact around the world, and progress the conversation around driving community solutions to be recognised at the global development level.
The momentum created by the World Communities Forum will continue through the Global Alliance for Communities, with monthly policy calls pushing forward the policy asks that will come from the community leaders.
Since leaving the position as Director General of NPHIL, the Liberian public health expert has contributed and continues to make immense contributions towards the achievement of global health goals, through advocacy and activities.
Predicated on his active role played in the attainment of global health objective, the RPI has received uncounted laurels and recognitions at top levels.
It could be recalled that the former NPHIL was highlighted barely two months ago as one of the key figures in the stopping the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Africa.
According to an article released by the Time Magazine, Dr. Mosoka Fallah and other doctors and public health officials in countries that already had experience with outbreaks of other infectious disease sprang into action for early prevention.
The Time Magazine’s article among other things pointed out how Dr. Fallah and a team of Liberian public health officials set up a training program after the WHO announcement at the end of January to help doctors and nurses at regional hospitals recognize the symptoms of COVID-19.
In addition to this, the RPI CEO has been invited to share his experience at over 10 international forums and lecture series at some of the world’s top universities including the London School of Economics and the Harvard University, where he serves as one of the lecturers.