Gaya Gamhewage

Dr Gamhewage "is responsible for capacity building for WHO's Department of Health Action in Crises in Geneva. She has been with WHO for the past four years and she currently leads a team that is responsible for a new global initiative to improve WHO's performance in crises, disasters and emergencies.

"Having started her career as a medical doctor, Dr Gamhewage soon moved to the public health field and to adult education in many aspects of public health. She has practiced medicine in the Peoples Republic of China and Sri Lanka and has been a lecturer in Community health. She is a former Director of Community health for Sri Lanka's largest NGO which provides service and health education for 12,000 villages including in conflict zones. She also has a strong communications background having worked as a journalist for three years and she was Country Advocacy Manager for Save the Children UK and Redd Barna. More recently she has carried out assignments related to health and conflict/peace for UNICEF and WHO.

"Dr Gamhewage has extensive experience developing and delivering education and learning programmes for a wide range of target audiences including WHO and UN staff, public health practitioners, NGOs, military, judiciary, media, diplomats, and others. On average she trains between 300- 500 WHO staff and partners per year. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Coexistence Initiative based in New York."