iGHP Special Lecture Series"Health Systems Strengthening in Post-Ebola Sierra Leone:
My Personal Experience with WHO"
Institute for Global Health Policy Research (iGHP), National Center for Global
Health and Medicine (NCGM) is delighted to announce that once cancelled seminar
by Mr. Robert Marten, a Hitachi/Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) International
Affairs Fellow and visiting fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange(JCIE), will be taking place on March 13, 2018. It is a great pleasure to have Mr.
Marten as a lecturer during his six-month fellowship in Japan. We are certain that hewill share with us his extensive experiences as well as expertise in the field ofglobal health, particularly his time in WHO Sierra Leone to help strengthen thecountry’s health systems after the Ebola-crisis.

Date & Time

Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 12:00-13:30

Topic"Health Systems Strengthening in Post-Ebola Sierra Leone: My
Personal Experience with WHO"

Venue

Institute for Global Health Policy Research, Bureau ofInternational Cooperation (Ground floor, Training Center
Building), National Center for Global Health and Medicine,Tokyo

Accesshttp://kyokuhp.ncgm.go.jp/eng/aboutus/access.html

Language

English only (No Japanese interpretation will be available)

Admission

Free of charge and open to general public. No advanceregistration required.

Seating capacity40

About the Speaker:

Mr. Robert Marten is currently spending six months in Tokyo as a Hitachi/Council on
Foreign Relations (CFR) International Affairs Fellow and visiting fellow at the Japan
Center for International Exchange (JCIE).
From 2010-2016, Mr. Robert Marten served as a senior program officer at theRockefeller Foundation, USA, where he worked on the foundation’s Transforming
Health Systems for Universal Health Coverage initiative, managing research andadvocacy efforts for UHC at the global level. From 2016 to the middle of 2017,
Robert worked as Coordinator of Health Systems Strengthening in WHO Sierra
Leone’s Country Office following the Ebola outbreak.
While assisting JCIE’s work program on Global Health, Mr. Marten is conducting
qualitative research on Japan's engagement in global health policy.

Report on "Health Systems Strengthening in Post-Ebola Sierra Leone: My Personal
Experience with WHO" (March 13, 2018)
On March 13, 2018, iGHP had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Robert Marten, aHitachi/Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) International Affairs Fellow and visiting
fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE). Speaking as a guest
lecturer for our monthly seminar, Mr. Marten gave a presentation on his recent
experience working with WHO in the post-Ebola Sierra Leone.
Mr. Marten started off his presentation with a brief introduction of himself, explaining
how his time as a UN Volunteer in Vietnam working in the HIV/AIDS program wastransformational in switching his career trajectory from pursing a PhD in history tobecoming the global health specialist that he is today.
After spending 6 years as a senior program officer at the Rockefeller Foundation ontheir Transforming Health Systems for Universal Health Coverage, Mr. Marten wentto Sierra Leone in 2016 to work on the country’s human resources for health (HRH)
strategic plan development with WHO. In Sierra Leone, Mr. Marten and his teamwas tasked to work with all stakeholders ranging from the government, CSO anddonor partners to create a national 5-year strategic plan for HRH. With the limited
time and resources available in what was an already challenging environment, Mr.
Marten explained how his team had focused to create a strategic plan that will beimmune to government changes by basing the recommendations on data andscientific evidence. In order to do so, his team conducted in person interviews at all
health stations to collect reliable data. These data were assessed and analyzed toreflect strategies in the HRH Strategic Plan 2017-2021.
Through his presentation, Mr. Marten gave us a glimpse in the life of Sierra Leone,
where the lack of basic infrastructure created challenges on a daily basis while thenatural beauty of the country also brought comfort.
He also touched on the difficulty WHO faced in coordinating all the different actors
in health, both at the global and country level. Mr. Marten shared with us his
insights on approaches WHO can take to exercise their role as provider ofleadership to the countries, CSOs and other stakeholders in the crowded and evergrowing field of global health.