Diwa Samad

A health economist with a strong background in health system financing, governance, and public sector economics. Hands-on experience implementing major health sector reforms in challenging development contexts and a proven record of providing high-quality technical assistance through international organizations to governments in low- and middle-income countries. Passionate about achieving health equity and improving health and social outcomes for the most vulnerable population groups.

• International Monetary Fund - Public Finance Management Course, 2024
• Strengthening Community Health Workers Programming, Harvard Medical School, 2022
• Global Flagship Course on Health Systems Strengthening and Sustainable Financing, Washington D.C., 2017

University of Oxford, Blavatnik School of Government, 2024

Teaching fellow for a course organized by the Government Outcomes Lab, designed for Master of Public Policy students and practitioners from the UK, Brazil, India, Israel, Burkina-Faso, Nigeria, and Qatar. Organized a special session on strategic purchasing in health and the role of different stakeholders in its success.

Guest lecturer at various universities in Asia and Europe, 

Teaching and knowledge exchange across universities in Asia and Europe (University of Singapore, UCL, University of Geneva, Kabul University Faculty of Economics, etc.) and engaged in student mentorship.

• Thomas, C., Couffinhal, A., Samad, D., & Gabani, J. (2024, April 9). How strong public financial management can break down barriers to improving health for women, children, and adolescents. World Bank Blogs. Retrieved from 'https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/health/How-strong-public-financial-management-can-break-down-barriers'.
• Samad, Diwa, et al. 'The effectiveness of pay-for-performance contracts with non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan–results of a controlled interrupted time series analysis.' BMC Health Services Research 23.1 (2023): 1-12.
• Samad, Diwa., Naem, A. J., & Feroz, F. (2021). Afghanistan: health sector gains in peril. The Lancet, 398(10306), 1127.
• Ziwary, SR., Samad, Diwa., Johnson, CD., & Edwards, RT (2016) Impact of place of residence on place of death in Wales: An observational study, BMC Journal of Palliative Care (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0261-5).
• Estrada, M. A. R., Samad, Diwa., & Ho, Y. J. (2018). The External Sector Vulnerability Monitoring Index: The Case of Chinese and ASEAN-5 Economies. Contemporary Economics, 12(3), 301-315.
• Samad, Diwa, Nurshuhada Zainon, and Eric Lou. 'Malaysian housing affordability policies revisited.' Open House International 42, no. 1 (2017): 44-51.

• Organized and led a joint session with Gavi and the Global Fund on health service delivery in fragile and conflict-affected settings, Global Health Campus, Geneva, May 2022.
• Speaker at a session on sustaining basic health services and COVID-19 control in Afghanistan, Centre for Global Development, 2021.
• Speaker at the University of Oxford Social Outcomes Conference organized by the Government Outcomes Lab – special session on outcome-based financing and the role of innovation.
• Speaker at the Atlantic Council on healthcare’s essential role in stabilizing Afghanistan, Washington DC, 2021.
• Moderated the Afghanistan Conference 2020 session on 'Support to Peace and Prosperity through Public-Private Partnerships.'
• Guest lecturer at various universities in Asia and Europe.
• Research presenter at the 11th Ministerial Conference’s Think Tank session of the World Trade Organization – Pharmaceutical trade and supply chain in health, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2017.