THE SIHI NETWORK
The Social Innovation in Health Initiative (SIHI) is a network of passionate individuals and institutions combining their skills and resources in support of key activities to promote social innovation in health. We are neither a formal partnership nor a funding body.
We share a common goal to advance social innovation in achieving Sustainable Development Goals and improving lives of communities in low- and middle-income countries. Our mission is to unlock the capacity residing within the actors of the health system to advance social innovation. We do this through south-south-north collaboration in three areas:
RESEARCH
We conduct research on community-based models and develop tools / mechanisms to advance research.
COUNTRY CAPACITY
We strengthen the capacity for social innovation and research in social innovation amongst universities and health system actors in LMICs.
ADVOCACY
Engage with global, national and local strategic influencers to embed social innovation as an approach in the health agenda and foster a collaborative movement.
The network was launched in 2014 through joint efforts of the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town, the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and TDR, the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases.
In 2017, the SIHI network expanded to include additional partners from low- and middle-income countries: University of Malawi College of Medicine in Malawi; Makerere University School of Public Health in Uganda; University of Philippines Manila College of Medicine; Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health initiative in China; and Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Medicas (CIDEIM) in Colombia in collaboration with ICESI University and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
In 2020, the SIHI Secretariat was formed to facilitate the expansion of the SIHI network. Based at the University of the Philippines Manila, it provides support to SIHI partner coordination and global network communication, and to the sustainability of the network. In the same year, more implementing partners from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean joined the network: Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria; Universitas Gadjah Mada Center for Tropical Medicine in Indonesia; University of Ghana School of Public Health; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras hosted by Unidad de Investigación Científica Facultad de Ciencias Médicas (FCM UNAH) in Honduras; and University of Rwanda. In 2021, the DERBI Foundation based in Bangalore, India and a consortium in Sweden made up of the Uppsala University, Karolinska Institutet, and Make a Difference (MAD) also became part of the SIHI network as implementing partners.
In addition, SIHI is collaborating with several organizations such as Fondation Mérieux, Ahimsa Fund, the WHO Department of Service Delivery and Safety, WHO AFRO, and the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health. Several organizations such as Africalics, Globelics, PAHO, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the WARN-TB Secretariat in Benin, the WHO Innovation Hub, UNAIDS, UNDP, and UNICEF work together with SIHI to build global capacity on social innovation in health.
The SIHI Network is able to do its work with support from the TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Disease, co-sponsored by UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank and WHO. TDR also receives additional funds from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) to support SIHI.
WHO CALLS FOR GLOBAL COLLABORATION ON SOCIAL INNOVATION IN HEALTH
SIHI SECRETARIAT
The Social Innovation in Health Initiative (SIHI) Secretariat was formed in 2020. Hosted at the University of the Philippines Manila, the SIHI Secretariat team provides support for SIHI partner coordination, strategic communication, and network sustainability. In the past few years, it also focused on further strengthening collaborations and capacities in SIHI through network building and advocacy for social innovation in health.
In 2024, the SIHI network celebrated its 10th year anniversary, focusing promoting sustainability and institutionalisation by facilitating platforms and discussions for innovative partnerships, funding, and resource mobilization among SIHI research hubs and partners.
THE SIHI INTERNAL COORDINATION GROUP (ICG)
In a bid to bolster SIHI’s endeavors, the SIHI Secretariat facilitated the formation of a small coordinating body to provide guidance, direction, and oversight over the SIHI global network. This group is called the SIHI Internal Coordination Group or the ICG. The team’s primary objective is to enhance SIHI’s impact in achieving its mission of promoting social innovation in the healthcare sector.
The ICG is composed of TDR partners and representatives from the following hubs: SIHI LAC, SIHI Philippines, SIHI Uganda, SIHI Malawi, SIHI South Africa, and SIHI China. It is currently facilitated by Dr. Joseph Tucker from SIHI China and Dr. Meredith del Pilar-Labarda, who leads the SIHI Secretariat.
Partner coordination
SIHI global network communication
Sustainability of the network
SIHI MILESTONES
