WHO/IBP Network: A global platform for local impact

About

The IBP Network is a global community of over 25 000 practitioners, researchers, and civil society partners – from international NGOs to local organizations working closest to the ground – all committed to advancing sexual reproductive maternal newborn child adolescent health and rights. We believe change happens when local evidence and lived experience lead the way. By bringing community voices together, the IBP Network helps surface gaps in evidence and implementation, and helps shape a research and program agenda rooted in what communities actually need – connecting that grounded knowledge with WHO's global leadership to turn insight into action. IBP is proud to be supported by WHO and UNFPA with funding support from CIFF.

Vision

A world where global guidelines and research priorities in sexual reproductive maternal newborn child adolescent health and rights (SRMNCAH) are informed by community needs and used to drive better health and development outcomes

Mission

To advance global development goals, the IBP Network leverages its convening power, diverse members, and neutral platform to share, apply, and exchange evidence-based guidelines, products, and research priorities.

The IBP Secretariat

The IBP Secretariat is hosted by the Department of Sexual Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health and Ageging at WHO in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nandita Thatte: thatten@who.int
Ados May: maya@who.int

IBP Governance

In 2025 in light of the changing global health architecture and environemnt, the IBP Network evolved from centralized coordination to distributed leadership – a model that strengthens local leadership, shares decision-making, and enables communities to drive collective action.

Rather than a single Steering Committee setting strategic direction, Communities of Practice now lead technical collaboration, shaped by those closest to the work. In place of a formal membership structure, IBP Leadership Partners convene and catalyze action across the network. And instead of coordinating activities from the center, a streamlined IBP Secretariat enables, connects, and supports partners in leading the way.

This is a network built to move decision-making closer to communities – and to let their needs, not structures, drive the agenda.

IBP Chair

Young and Alive Initiative Tanzania (until December 2026)
Sesilia Shirima: sshirima@youngandalive.org

As a network we rely on our partners to help shape our agenda and lead our work. We focus on active dissemination efforts through virtual and in person platforms, we support the use of evidence through our communities of practices and innovative strategies like storytelling and tool development and we advance the science and art of equitable partnerships through our shared governance and leadership structures.

Communities of practice

We host over 20 active communities of practice on various SRHR technical topics some of which include: Adolescent sexual and reproductive health, Global fertility care, Male SRHR, Comprehensive Abortion Care, Group Care, Women's Health. We also host language and regional specific Communities such as IBP Francophonie, IBP América y el Caribe and IBP Asia Partners Group. In addition we host various partner led intiatives such as the Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery and the FP Accelerator Plus Project.

The science and art of equitable partnership

The IBP Network launched a community of practice on shifting power in SRHR. This community which has over 800 members aims to question and highlight current power dynamics and structures in global health partnerships and offer solutions to a new way of working.

Nandita Thatte, Bringing Personal Experience with Sexual and Reproductive Health to Work, 16 April 2023

Carolin Ekman, Nandita Thatte, Opinion: Turning storytelling challenges into strengths to advance SRH, 30 January 2023.

Devex Partnerships, Opinion: Beyond the buzz words: 'DEI' and 'decolonizing' global health, 14 December 2022.

Carolin Ekman, Ados Velez May, Nandita Thatte, Opinion: How to use storytelling to capture reproductive health evidence, 25 October 2021.

Ados Velez May, Carolin Ekman, Nandita Thatte, Opinion: The value of webinars in SRHR, 13 December 2021

Thatte N, Cuzin-Kihl A, May AV, D'Adamo M, Addico G, Kiarie J, Askew I. Leveraging a Partnership to Disseminate and Implement What Works in Family Planning and Reproductive Health: The Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Initiative  Glob Health Sci Pract. 2019 Mar 29;7(1):12-19.