I. Program Description
- A Changing Global Context
- Preparing Leaders to Meet Evolving Health Challenges
- New Challenges / New Focuses
- Leaders in International Health Program
- Program Benefits
- Important Dates for 2010
- Program Structure

II. Eligibility Criteria and the Application Procedures
- Eligibility Criteria
- Application Procedures
Application Form (pdf format)
Application Form (word format)

III. Contact Information
- Contact

Brochure:
Brochure - PDF version

"The recognized interdependency that marks this new century has overcome the distance between the local and the global, the individual and the collective, the micro and the macro, the biological and the environmental, making the global nature of threats and the global capacity to respond to them increasingly evident. In this regard, we have the ability to coordinate our activities, increase our connectivity, create networks for collaboration, and enlist new actors and institutions to confront the risks and specifically protect the most vulnerable among us."

Dr. Mirta Roses Periago
PAHO Director
February 2008

I. Program Description

A Changing Global Context
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) recognizes that health systems of the 21st century must confront new challenges to achieve national and international health goals in the face of a globalized world. The Health Agenda for the Americas 2008-2017, launched in 2007 by the ministries and health secretariats of the Region, as well as the Millennium Development Goals, establish an ambitious set of priorities and commitments which require intersectoral and international action for their equitable and collective achievement. The right to health, human security in health, the introduction of new technologies, the opening of borders to trade, the growing migration of populations, and the expansion of regional and subregional integration processes have created new and urgent demands on States. Health leaders are increasingly required to formulate and implement actions that take into account bilateral, subregional, regional and global treaties and agreements. More than ever, health leaders must also act across sectors in order to achieve balance between economic growth and social development in today's market economy. The challenge of equity is an imperative for leaders, which necessitates an understanding of the social determinants of health and requires that countries collaborate to design and implement intersectoral public policies to face common problems. Simultaneously, the emergence of new actors, alliances, and structures has altered the dynamics in the definition of the global health agenda and poses new challenges for international cooperation and for the countries who must reconcile the interests of these actors with their own national priorities.

This international scenario requires the training of human resources - in public health and in international relations, as well as in other fields - so that they are not only technically prepared, but they also have a more profound understanding of international forces and their impact on health, thereby enabling them to effectively analyze, define, advocate and project their national health interests within this complex global context.
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Preparing Leaders to Meet Evolving Health Challenges
Within this context, the PAHO/WHO Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalde aims to contribute to the development of the Health Agenda for the Americas 2008-2017 by strengthening the capacity of countries in the region to understand, act upon and positively influence the international determinants of health, to promote their national interests, and to achieve intersectoral health agreements in international environments, at all times guided by the principle of greater global equity in health.
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New Challenges - New Focuses
The newly renovated Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalde incorporates an updated curriculum, new problem-based learning modules, and a decentralized operating model to enhance participants' abilities to integrate the learning into their countries' contexts. The LIHP is based within PAHO's Virtual Campus for Public Health, a virtual space that contributes to the development of the public health workforce through sharing learning resources and creation of networks. Through its problem-based learning strategy, the Program utilizes a variety of virtual and practical experiences through which the participants will analyze the principal concepts, theories, actors, forces, and processes related to the field and practice of international health.

The following problem areas are among those to be considered by program participants: nutrition and food security, migration, processes of conflict and peace, disasters, climate change, medicines, risk surveillance and protection, and tobacco. Through the Program, participants will develop and hone the competencies needed to fulfill the following six essential functions as they relate to international health: situation analysis, policy design and decision-making, negotiation and advocacy, project management and cooperation, generation and dissemination of knowledge, and communication.
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Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalde
The 2010 Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalde encompasses nine months, launching in March in the participant's country under the guidance of the Program Coordination and the PAHO/WHO Country Office. During this initial phase, participants engage in different activities, discussions and visits related to the principal health and development challenges facing the country and the region as well as the main actors involved in the same, and begin to define a project to be developed later in-country in coordination with PAHO/WHO, government and other authorities. Participants subsequently attend a two-week intensive training in international health in a country of the region, after which they return to their countries where they can continue to function in their normal employment capacity on a part-time basis if needed, while devoting a minimum of 50% of their working hours to the Program. Participants maintain close ties with the PAHO/WHO Country Office, particularly the PAHO/WHO Country Representative, allowing them to experience the technical as well as the diplomatic and political dimensions of international cooperation. They engage in a program of work and learning opportunities involving PAHO/WHO and other relevant local actors in international health, including country-based offices of the United Nations and other multilateral and bilateral agencies, sub-regional entities, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. These experiences are reinforced through a series of problem-based virtual modules, fomenting a community of practice and learning that reaches beyond the Program participants. The Program culminates in December with the presentation of final projects over a one-week period in a country of the region.
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Program Benefits
The Program will provide transportation costs, a stipend and accident insurance for the participant only during the initial and closing phases of training, which will take place outside their country or city of residence. Participants are responsible for securing their own health insurance and visas.
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Important Dates LIHP 2010

II. Eligibility Criteria and Application Procedures

Eligibility Criteria
The minimum requirements for participating in the Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalde are as follows:

Master's degree in public health, international relations, or related fields;
Minimum of three years' work experience at the managerial or directive level in public health, international relations, or related fields. Experience may be in services, teaching or research;
Current employment at the managerial or directive level in public health, development, international relations or a related field in an institution within Latin America or the Caribbean;
Citizen or resident of a PAHO/WHO Member Country;
Excellent knowledge of either Spanish or English, with a basic ability to understand and read the other language.

Application Procedures:
The aplication procedure includes submitting the following documents:

Completed application form
Download
Application Form (pdf format)
Application Form (word format)

This application form can also be requested through the PAHO / WHO Representation Office in your country.

Curriculum vitae
Please submit resumé only (no more than 5 pages.) Do not include certification of participation in courses, workshops or seminars that did not lead to a degree.

Photocopy of undergraduate diploma(s)

Photocopy of graduate and/or postgraduate diploma(s)
Applications will only be considered from those candidates who have completed their Master's degree by the application deadline. Completion of the degree means that all requirements have been met (including completion of all coursework and submission and defense of thesis, if applicable), and that the degree or title of Masters has been conferred on the candidate. In instances where the institution has not yet provided the diploma, PAHO/WHO will accept a letter on university letterhead with original signature in which the university certifies that all degree requirements have been met and the degree conferred. In any case, all diplomas must be submitted no later than the application deadline.

Letter from one's home employment institution
Certifying both agreement with one's participation in the Program and the intention to continue one's employment during the same.
Letters of recommendation are welcome, although not required.

Applications can be requested from and submitted to the PAHO/WHO Country Office. Completed applications and enclosed documents must be presented in the indicated order and in duplicate (original plus one copy). Please do not submit original diplomas and certificates as these will not be returned. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Letters of reference may be submitted separately.

The PAHO/WHO Country Office will invite only the top applicants for an in-country interview. The results will be sent to PAHO Headquarters in Washington DC as input into the selection process.
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III. Contact Information

For more information, please contact your PAHO/WHO Country Office or the Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalade at the following address:

Leaders in International Health Program Edmundo Granda Ugalde
Health Systems and Services Area
Pan American Health Organization
525 Twenty-third St., NW
Washington, DC 20037-2895
Tel: (202) 974-3592
Fax: (202) 974-3612
email: INTLHLTH@paho.org
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