The field of global health is at a turning point with dramatic shifts at all levels of the ecosystem. There has never been a more pressing time to revisit our foundational value of compassion and identify the ways to expand its presence in our day-to-day activities.
For six years, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Focus Area for Compassion and Ethics (FACE) have explored compassion in global health through a series of webinars, analyses, training, and tool and framework development. In 2025, WHO published a seminal report on Compassion and Primary Health Care and developed a module on Leading with Compassion as part of a Global Capacity Building Course on Primary Heath Care Leadership.
Through these efforts, WHO and FACE have identified a nascent community of innovative health sector leaders, researchers, practitioners, organizations, and exemplars of compassion – in dozens of countries – committed to amplifying the role of compassion in PHC-oriented health systems. Yet, many of these exemplars work in relative isolation – it is time to come together to celebrate successes, share experiences, and develop effective approaches to amplify.
This interactive, virtual convening has four objectives:
Summarize findings from the multi-year exploration of compassion in global health conducted by WHO and FACE.
Outline the key elements from the 2025 WHO publication on Compassion and Primary Health Care.
Listen to voices of compassion exemplars on how best to amplify the role of compassion in global health.
Co-develop a pathway forward to keep the momentum on compassion central in global health.
Join us, and do invite your colleagues, to this 90 minute working webinar on July 29, 2025. We’ll not only look back on what’s been done, but just as importantly, look forward to where we go together from here to strengthen the hearts of practitioners, the determination of the collective, and the direction of the field.
Register here for this free online event. Please note, this event has been standardized to the Eastern Time Zone.