As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, UNU Global Health, in collaboration with the Ministry Of Health, Malaysia (KKM), UCSI University, MIGHTmalaysia and the Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI), organised a panel discussion in Kuala Lumpur titled โ๐๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ข: ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ, bringing together policymakers, academics, international organisations, civil society and regional stakeholders to explore how sustainable development should evolve in Southeast Asia beyond 2030.
The session was moderated by Dr. Revati Phalkey, Director of UNU Global Health, with opening remarks by Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zakri Abdul Hamid, Founding Director of the International Institute for Science Diplomacy and Sustainability (IISDS) at UCSI University, a keynote address by Mr. Nikolas Myint, UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, and closing remarks by Prof. Norichika Kanie, Professor and Co-Director of Keio STAR at Keio University.
Bringing together diverse perspectives from across public health, government and academia, the panel featured Dr. Sadaf Lynes, Director of IANPHI; Dr. Asfaazam Bin Kasbani, Director of the SDG Unit at Malaysiaโs Ministry of Economy; Dr. Nor Zahrin Hasran, Deputy Director (Disease Surveillance) at the Ministry of Health Malaysia; and Dr. Jaime Montoya, Professor at the College of Medicine and Chair of the Health Sciences Division at the University of the Philippines.
The discussion examined global health as a lens for rethinking sustainable development, recognising its close links with poverty, inequality, climate, food systems, gender, decent work and governance. Panellists reflected on the progress and remaining challenges of the 2030 Agenda, including how Malaysia and the wider ASEAN region can accelerate progress over the coming years while moving beyond siloed approaches to health, development and prosperity.
Looking beyond 2030, the panel explored how future development frameworks could place the well-being of people and the planet at their centre, supported by stronger measures of societal progress, systems-based approaches and greater attention to equity and interconnected challenges. The dialogue also highlighted the role of national public health institutions, governments, universities and knowledge institutions in generating evidence, building interdisciplinary partnerships and developing the human capital needed to shape a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable post-2030 agenda.
UNU Global Health extends its sincere thanks to all participants for contributing to this important conversation and for being part of our 20th anniversary celebrations.
To view more photos from the evening, please visit our Flickr album.
