Global Health Learning Centre 2026 opens in Manila, welcoming 22 fellows from across the Western Pacific

The Global Health Learning Centre (GHLC) 2026 marked the opening of its in-person Module B this week, bringing together 22 fellows from 13 countries and areas across the Western Pacific Region for six weeks of intensive learning in Manila.

The opening ceremony, held at the WPRO Conference Hall and emceed by Ms Sunju Lee of the Capacity and Leadership Strengthening (CAL) team, brought fellows together with WHO Regional Office leadership, GHLC Curriculum Committee members and the CAL team, who have worked for months to prepare this year's programme.

A programme built on twelve years of leadership development

In his opening remarks, Dr Kidong Park, Director of Programme Management, welcomed fellows to Manila and placed this year's cohort within the wider history of GHLC. Founded in 2014, the programme was built on the conviction that the future of health depends on leaders at the country level - those who can translate policy into action and bridge the gap between discussion and impact. Since then, 233 fellows from 20 countries have completed the programme, many going on to take up leadership roles at both national and global levels.

Dr Park noted that GHLC was redesigned in 2024 as a more competency-based and interactive programme under WPRO's vision, Weaving Health for All, and has been further strengthened this year to meet the evolving demands of leadership. He encouraged fellows to be fully present - intellectually, emotionally and courageously - over the coming weeks, to make full use of the country perspectives in the room, and to leave the programme "unwilling to return to business as usual."

Dr Hiromasa Okayasu, Director of Data, Strategy and Innovation (DSI), introduced the design of GHLC 2026, describing a programme built around three interconnected pillars: global health knowledge, leadership and management, and a sustained network of health leaders across Member States and with WHO. He highlighted the diversity of this year's cohort, which spans the region from the Cook Islands to Mongolia - a capital-to-capital distance of almost 12,000 kilometres - and represents a combined population of close to 1.97 billion people across some 22 official languages.

The ceremony also included introductions of the 2026 fellows, WPRO Directors and GHLC Curriculum Committee members, and the CAL secretariat team. In his closing remarks, Dr Okayasu thanked the faculty and facilitators who shaped this year's curriculum and challenged fellows to make the most of their six weeks together, noting that the programme's real test lies in what fellows carry back to their countries.

From virtual foundations to in-person practice

GHLC 2026 began in June with Module A, delivered virtually to lay the foundations in global health knowledge ahead of the in-person phase. That module has now concluded, and fellows have moved into Module B, running in Manila from 1 July to 11 August 2026.

Module B has been redesigned this year as a shorter, sharper and more future-ready phase of the programme - condensed from nine weeks to six in response to feedback that a longer in-country release was difficult for many ministries to accommodate, while preserving the depth of learning fellows valued in previous years. Three innovations stand out in this year's design:

• Country Challenge to Action Lab - fellows bring real national problems into the classroom and work through them alongside WHO faculty, rather than through lecture-based learning alone.
• Applied AI for Leadership - a three-level learning journey moving from AI literacy, to applying AI in daily work, to leading responsible AI-enabled change.
• More interactive teaching - a shift towards greater practice, simulation and discussion, and away from one-way lecturing.

Across the six weeks, fellows will work through 132 sessions with more than 80 faculty members, covering the global health agenda for the Western Pacific, essential leadership and management skills, and the governance and structure of WHO, alongside dedicated time for field visits, mentoring and project development.

A central feature carried forward from 2025 is applied learning through cross-country group projects, in which fellows form teams to tackle shared health challenges - from health workforce wellbeing and primary emergency care to NCD prevention, field epidemiology and programme monitoring and evaluation - with faculty mentorship throughout. Each team will receive seed funding to begin piloting its proposed solution once Module B concludes.

Module B will be followed by Module C, a virtual phase running from 17 to 28 August, supporting fellows as they carry their action plans forward into implementation in their home countries.