After many months of preparation and excitement, last Thursday, IDA Foundation celebrated its 50^th anniversary at our #BuildingHealthyFutures event with partners and colleagues from around the world.

The hybrid event was opened by our moderator Rogier Elshout and IDA’s CEO Wendy Eggen, who introduced Mariatou Tala Jallow, who shared her message with our audience by video. She reflected on the past five decades, in which IDA’s impact coincided with many global health milestones (see her full message in the video below).

Visitors (both on-site and online) then heard our experienced panel members Claire Barnhoorn (Solvoz), Mary Wambui Moehlmann (Access to Medicine Foundation), Henrique Guilardi (Kuehne + Nagel) and Nwaebiem Nwadinobi (IDA Foundation Nigeria) share different insights on developments and challenges when it comes to Universal Health Coverage, Strengthening Local Capacity and Sustainable Value Chains.

Through an online tool, our audiences, whether on location with us or joining us via livestream, also shared their opinions and asked questions.

The morning programme was followed by a healthy lunch, during which visitors could visit our old warehouse, see historical photos and movies and meet some of our partners, CocoPallet and Solvoz. Upon their return to the event tent, our surprise performers ‘The Granny Hip Hop Crew’ got everyone energised, through performing dance and making everyone join in. These senior ladies showed us what healthy futures can look like!

In the afternoon, we welcomed our guest speaker Nikola Usenovic of International Medical Corps who shared personal experiences and insights from working in humanitarian settings. This was a reminder to us all, why #BridgingTheGap in global health is so important.

For a fun and collaborative closing of the day, we then split into teams for our very own IDA pub quiz, celebrating the impact over these past five decades, and looking forward to hopefully many healthy futures!

A big thank you to everyone who made this inspiring and successful day possible!

INTERESTED IN SPEAKING AT AN IDA EVENT?

We are always looking for experts in global health and supply chain to meet with us, or share insights at one of our (internal) events. Reach out to ftoxopeus@idafoundation.org if you are interested.