World Health Day invites us to reflect on what it means to build a world where health is not a privilege, but a shared and protected right.
In my work at the Africa Centre for Health Systems and Gender Justice, I am constantly reminded that transforming health systems is fundamentally about power. Health is shaped by who holds economic and social power, who leads, and whose voices are recognised. Across communities, it is women and girls who are the first caregivers, who hold families and systems together, yet who remain the most excluded from resources and decision making.
Local leadership has taught us that systems change begins in communities. It is built through trust, through lived experience, and through those who navigate broken systems every day. When communities lead, solutions are not only more relevant, they are more durable and more just.
Therefore, resources must be placed in the hands of those with lived experience, in ways that are long term, flexible, and core in nature. This is what enables communities not only to respond to immediate needs, but to shape priorities, build institutions, and sustain change over time. When resources are structured this way, power shifts. Decision making moves closer to those most affected, and systems begin to reflect the realities they are meant to serve.
Rethinking health requires us to centre those with lived experience, not as beneficiaries, but as leaders. This is where transnational solidarity becomes essential. Through spaces like the Women’s Funding Network’s Global Leadership Forum, we are able to connect local efforts across borders, build shared strategy, deepen intersectional understanding, and strengthen collective power.
In a world where health, climate, democracy, and economic justice are increasingly intertwined, collective action is not optional. It is necessary.
On this World Health Day, we are called to invest differently, to trust community leadership, and to place power where it has always belonged.
Dr. Stellah Bosire
Executive Director
Africa Centre for Health Systems and Gender Justice