Board of Directors - WACI Health

An honorary position towards equitable health for all.

Specialists in the areas of health, social issues and development, economists, people – our Board of Directors consists of voluntarily acting experts who have one thing in common: the desire to have equitable health for all. Guided by Evaline Kibuchi, Chair of the Board, the Board oversees the work of the Executive Management internally, and represents the organization externally.

Dudu Simelane

Board Member

Evaline Kibuchi

Board Member

Ida Jooste

Board Member

Itai Rusike

Board Member

Rosemary W. Mburu

Board Member

Mike Podmore

Board Member

Dudu Simelane

Board Member

Dudu Simelane is the Team Leader: East and Southern Africa at the IPPF Africa Regional office and has a responsibility to lead a team of Technical Advisors who support the IPPF Member Associations (MAs) in the East and Southern Africa sub-region to deliver quality integrated SRH, HIV and other health programmes and further ensuring that MAs are well managed, well governed and have robust organisational systems at all levels.

Prior to joining IPPF, Dudu was Regional Manager: East and Southern Africa (ESA) at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (IHAAs) in the United Kingdom . Her role included overseeing the Alliance’s programmes in the ESA sub-region. In this role she co-led the development of a strategy to reposition the IHAAs presence in Southern Africa.

Dudu has also worked as the Executive Director of the Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS), the IPPF affiliate in Swaziland and has also worked as Director of Programs /Deputy Executive Director at FLAS. Her other work experience has been with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) where she worked as the Special Assistant to the UN Resident Coordinator in Swaziland where she was responsible for the coordination of UN Joint Programs in the UN system in Swaziland. Dudu has also worked at the Council of Swaziland Churches in various capacities.

She has led and championed a number of initiatives in the course of her work including the integration of HIV/AIDS programs into SRH. She was one of the key players in the pioneering of a national voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention program in Swaziland. Dudu has also served on various committees and boards in Swaziland and in the Southern Africa region which include among others as a member of the FP2020 Performance, Measurement and Evidence (PME) working Group 2013-2015.

Dudu is a seasoned conference speaker, having presented papers at various conferences including the IAC 2008, NGO forum on the ICPD 2009, UNAIDS PCB 2010 thematic session on SRH/HIV, IAC 2010, ICFP 2011, ICASA 2013, ICASA 2015, IAC 2016 among others.

Dudu holds a Masters in Development Studies from the University of South Africa, a Post Graduate Diploma in Economic and Social Studies from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Development Policy and Management (IDPM) in the UK as well as a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Swaziland.

Evaline Kibuchi

Board Member

Evaline Kibuchi is the Chief National Coordinator, Stop TB Partnership- Kenya. She is the Africa TB Caucus Regional Director. Evaline has over a decade of experience in advocacy in public health with demonstrated commitment to reducing the burden of public health issues in Africa and globally through advocacy. She is an expert in Public health policy advocacy, communication and social mobilization, media engagement, coalitions & partnership and community engagement.

She also has a keen interest in Global Health financing where is a member of the Africa Health Platform, an outfit that advocates for domestic financing for health in Africa. She has been an ardent advocate for increased investment to health through Global fund and domestic finances.

She brings with her a great network Members of Parliament both from the region and globally as the coordinator of the Parliamentary TB Caucus and a member of the secretariat of the global TB Parliamentary caucus. She was instrumental in establishing the first ever National TB Caucus in Africa which and took lead in the formation of Africa TB Caucus. She is a board member of the Aids Health Foundation (AHF).

She is a Sociology graduate from University of Nairobi and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass communication from the same University. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health (MPH)

Ida Jooste

Board Member

is a South African journalist, the recipient of some twenty international and South African media awards. Her journalistic work across Africa has focused on science, governance and human rights issues with a particular emphasis on HIV related and analytical storytelling.

She is currently the Health Media advisor at Internews, where she leads health media training programs around the globe.

Itai Rusike

Board Member

Executive Director, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) –Zimbabwe: Itai is a Public Health Activist with almost 20 years experience organizing involvement of communities in health actions in Zimbabwe. He is the immediate past Deputy-Chairperson of the Public Health Advisory Board in Zimbabwe; Member of the National Steering Committee on Results Based Financing (RBF); National Maternal Deaths Surveillance and Response (MDSR) Committee; Editorial Committee Member of the Health Matters Magazine.

He is a Steering Committee Member of the Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET) coordinating the Social Empowerment Cluster. Itai is the Chairperson for the Peoples Health Movement Zimbabwe, and Coordinator of the African Civil Society Platform for Universal Health Coverage. Itai was in the first Zimbabwe National AIDS Council Board (Disbursement Committee). He holds tertiary level qualifications in Mechanical Engineering, Community Journalism, Research Methods and Health Financing

Rosemary W. Mburu

Board Member

Rosemary W. Mburu has been a champion for healthy communities for over fifteen years and currently serves as the Executive Director for WACI Health.

Mburu is a civil society leader in Africa and has extensively worked on supporting civil society to engage with decision makers at community, national, regional and global levels. She is a civil society organizer working on building and strengthening civil society networks and platforms on health-related advocacy and campaigning in Africa.

In her day-to-day work, together with other civil society leaders and organizations in Africa, Ms Mburu engages with governments, key multilateral and bilateral institutions (such as World Health Organization, the Global Fund, the Stop TB Partnership, and the World Bank). She champions healthy communities by engaging with decision makers and senior technical experts directly and through high-level allies, while also building external support via parliamentary and civic engagement, civil society strengthening, and politically relevant media outreach.

Ms. Mburu Holds a Masters in Public Health from Ohio University, a Masters in Business Administration from Frostburg State University, Maryland, and a Bachelor of Education from Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Some of her published work include: The Abuja +12 declaration: implications for HIV response in Africa.; How ethical is your clinical trial?; Getting to zero the biomedical way in Africa: outcomes of deliberation at the 2013 Biomedical HIV Prevention Forum in Abuja, Nigeria; The far-reaching impact of strengthening primary health care; Africa must increase investments in health, now more than ever.

Mike Podmore

Board Member

I joined STOPAIDS as Director in July 2015. I partner STOPAIDS Trustees in the delivery of our strategic plan. I represent STOPAIDS externally in the UK and internationally. I am Board Member for the Developed Country NGO Delegation on the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; a steering committee member oAll Showcasesf Action For Global Health UK, Global Fund Advocates Network, Civil Society Sustainability Network; and of Stamp Out Poverty.

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