World Health Organization
SWITZERLAND
Susana leads Inter-Agency Collaboration work at the World Health Organization (WHO), spearheading efforts to promote, engage, and better understand United Nations Pooled Funds. She has extensive experience in global health security, child and women’s protection, emergencies, immunization, education, community empowerment, and high-level advocacy. She has facilitated major initiatives such as the Universal Health Coverage High-Level Meeting at the 74th United Nations General Assembly, supported the Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and delivered statements at the Global Compact for Refugees. Susana oversaw the development of key Memoranda of Understanding between WHO and the International Organization for Migration, as well as the tripartite agreement on AMR with WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Organisation for Animal Health.
Her fieldwork includes living and working in the Dadaab and Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, where she led emergency convoys and managed health and education programs for up to 500,000 people. With WHO, she has participated in monitoring immunization campaigns for measles, polio, and routine activities in high-risk areas, including Zambia, Timor-Leste, Malawi, Laos, and Equatorial Guinea. She has secured and managed large-scale funding from donors such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and United Nations Foundation, and helped implement the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ first private-sector education initiatives, including the Nike “Together for Girls” project in Dadaab. Her co-authored work has been published in The Journal of Corporate Citizenship.
Susana has a strong background in participatory assessment techniques and partnership management, with extensive experience across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States. She earned her BA Cum Laude in International Relations and holds an MSc in Social Policy in Developing Countries and NGO Management from the London School of Economics.
She is featured in the New York Times bestselling book When Stars Are Scattered, which depicts the day-to-day life of disabled unaccompanied minors living in the world’s largest refugee camp and their journey to a second opportunity in life in the United States.
