High-Level Week of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) takes place September 22–30, 2025 in New York City.
Held under the theme “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights,” this year’s high-level week highlights the urgency of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and renewing global commitment to multilateralism, solidarity, and shared action for people and planet.
At Pathfinder International, we’re looking forward to using our platform at UNGA80 to advocate for climate-resilient health systems, a strong and supported health workforce, and a global commitment to safeguarding sexual and reproductive health and rights and advancing gender equality. Above all, we call for greater investment in women’s leadership and women-led solutions for achieving these objectives.
Let’s explore opportunities for working together toward a healthier, more climate-resilient, and more equitable world. We invite you to join us at our in-person events (details below)—or connect with on LinkedIn or through email.
Our Events
The Tipping Point: A New Era of Leadership in Global Health
Monday, September 22 at 8:00 – 10:00AM
Venue will be shared with confirmed guests.
The world is at a crossroads. As global health systems face unprecedented strain, African leaders, youth visionaries, global partners, and civil society are coming together to chart a new path forward.
In honor of #UNGA80, join us in NYC on Monday, September 22 for The Tipping Point: A New Era of Leadership in Global Health. This high-level convening will bring together African leaders, youth visionaries, civil society, and global partners to redefine global health leadership in Africa in the 21st century. Together we’ll harness the energy of a rising generation ready to lead, mobilize bold political will to invest in Africa’s health future, and translate shared global ambitions into tangible results.
SPACE IS LIMITED — EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST TODAY
Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Newborn Mortality in Côte d’Ivoire: Aligning Donor Investments with National Priorities
Tuesday, September 23 at 8:00AM – 12:00PM
Closed Invitation
Recently, Pathfinder secured a three-year strategic investment from the Gates Foundation to scale up the provision of free family planning services in Côte d’Ivoire. As part of this transformative initiative, Pathfinder will lead a high-level donor advocacy and resource mobilization campaign at global policy fora, including UNGA80.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Côte d’Ivoire, The Gates Foundation, and key partners, Pathfinder Côte d’Ivoire will host a closed-door roundtable side event in New York City. This convening will serve as a critical platform to catalyze sustainable financing for Côte d’Ivoire’s health priorities, establish long-term partnerships, and explore possibilities for a multi-stakeholder fiduciary fund.
From Ideas to Trust-Based Collaboration: Scaling African Women Innovators
Tuesday, September 23 at 3:00 – 4:00PM
Convene | 810 7th Avenue, 23rd Floor
Climate change and gender inequality are twin crises with deeply interconnected impacts. Women and girls—particularly in low- and middle-income countries—bear disproportionate health, social, and economic burdens, yet remain underrepresented in decision-making. The Gender Snapshot 2024 warns that by 2050, 158 million more women and girls may be pushed into poverty due to climate change – 16 million more than men.
Already, nearly 50 million more women than men are likely to face food insecurity. These inequities intersect with other forms of discrimination, compounding risks for Indigenous, Afro-descendant, LGBTQIA+, stateless, and disabled women and girls.
At the same time, women across the globe are designing climate-health solutions—leading sustainable agriculture, driving renewable energy adoption, and mobilizing communities. Their leadership is essential for resilience, yet their voices remain fragmented and under-resourced.
This roundtable at UNGA80 will bring together women leaders across sectors and generations to build a chain of advocates: a sustained platform that moves beyond dialogue to collective, equity-centered influence on climate-health policy.
Building a Chain of Women Advocates for Climate Action
Friday, September 26 at 9:00 – 11:00AM
The Penn Club & Online
Women in Global Health (WGH), AMREF Health Africa, and Pathfinder International are convening women climate–health advocates from across the globe for a high-level strategic dialogue at UNGA80. The roundtable will move beyond fragmented advocacy to coordinated global action—developing immediate policy recommendations for Climate Week NYC and laying the foundation for sustained collaboration.
Meet Our #UNGA80 Delegation
Dr. Tabinda Sarosh
President and Chief Executive Officer
A bold and visionary leader, Dr. Sarosh brings exceptional strategic insight and deep commitment to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights and women’s rights. She is a clinically trained, seasoned public health practitioner, with multi-faceted experience leading sexual and reproductive health and rights programs and research. She has worked to advance sexual and reproductive health care for women and girls, including numerous policies related to women’s and girls’ health and rights. Read more.
Madiha Latif
Vice President, Strategic Engagement and Innovation
Madiha Latif is an experienced systems interventionist. In addition to her technical and management experience in family planning, Madiha is credited with conceptualizing and leading teams toward implementing innovative designs at the intersection of climate change and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Pakistan with support from global donors. She also successfully led a multi-sectoral gender-based violence response in Sindh and institutionalized the very first multi-sectoral response mechanism led by the government itself. Read more.
Mohamed Abou Nar
Chief Programs and Impact Officer
Mohamed has extensive experience in leading and managing international development operations and projects in human and institutional capacity development programs in adult education, economic support, and health systems strengthening. With a strong background in transformative leadership and monitoring and evaluation, he has contributed to multiple leadership initiatives at Pathfinder and fostered strong, trusted relationships with ministries of health, donors, and regional partners. Read more.
Dr. Amina Aminu Dorayi
Regional Portfolio Director, West and Central Africa
Dr. Amina Aminu Dorayi is a physician and public health professional with more than two decades of extensive experience in designing and managing health system and sustainable development programs aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of women, girls, and communities. She is currently a Senior Country Director at Pathfinder International where she provides overall strategic leadership of Pathfinder activities in Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Democratic Republic of Congo. She is a member of the Nigerian Medical Association, Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria and the American Public Health Association. She is also a Fellow of the West African Institute of Public Health and African Institute of Public Health Professionals. Read more.
Rannia Elsayed
Regional Portfolio Director, South Asia, Middle East, North Africa
Rannia Elsayed has more than 25 years of experience working with numerous national and international organizations on development projects in several sectors with different donors. She has extensive experience in coordinating and managing complex programs in various fields such as health, employment, economic support, and education. She has solid project and financial management skills starting from workplan and budget preparation, monitoring and evaluation, formulating and managing teams, to overseeing and guiding project implementation. Read more.
Dr. Ernest Yao
Country Director, Côte d’Ivoire
A champion of sexual and reproductive health, as well as health statistics, Dr. Yao had more than 20 years of experience in public health in Côte d’Ivoire before joining Pathfinder International as the country director in 2019. He served as a clinical doctor, a civil servant in the Ministry of Security before joining the Ministry of Health in 2009. At the Ministry of Health, Dr. Yao worked in the Directorate of Health Statistics and then in the National Maternal and Child Health Program (PNSME). Read more.
Laurel Lundstrom
Communications Director
Laurel Lundstrom is Pathfinder’s Communications Director, overseeing internal and external communications. She has more than 15 years of experience leading communications initiatives for international organizations. Laurel brings expertise in developing and executing communications strategies to drive brand awareness and organizational growth. Her editorial contributions span feature articles, blogs, opinion editorials, press releases, films, newsletters, research dossiers, technical briefs, peer-review journal articles, and proposals, among others. Read more.
Shoba Ramachandran
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director
Shobana Ramachandran is the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Director at Pathfinder International based in Washington, D.C. In her role, she leads a comprehensive MEL strategy for Pathfinder, ensuring high-quality data collection and management, insightful research and analysis, and continuous learning across the organization. Prior to joining Pathfinder, Shobana spent nearly 15 years at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where she ultimately served as Associate Director of Strategic Information and Evaluation. Read more.
Yosra Albakkar
Senior Partnership Manager, South Asia-MENA
Yosra holds a master’s degree in sustainability and has been working in international development for more than 10 years on diverse themes such as gender, public health, environment and economic empowerment. She has worked directly for donors and other partners in the MENA region developing multi-million dollar projects to advance achievement of the SDGs and is currently the Senior Partnership Manger for Pathfinder International in MENA and South Asia.
Erick Gonzalez
Global Advisor, Innovation
Erick Gonzalez is an accomplished strategist and development expert with a passion for creating social impact and driving innovation. Before taking the role of Innovation Architect, Erick worked as Partnerships & Engagement Lead, actively exploring new opportunities to address urgent challenges for both people and the planet through strategic partnerships and collaborations. He works closely with the CEO, Presidents, and in-country leadership, representing Pathfinder externally, and plays a key role in developing and executing strategies that contribute to Pathfinder innovations. Read more.
