26. Culture is the key with Dr. Gaya Gamhewage

Embodying change: Transforming power, culture and well-being in aid organisations

Melissa speaks with Dr. Gaya Gamhewage about her work in the world’s premier health organisation, the World Health Organisation (WHO), to prevent and response to sexual misconduct.

They talk about the importance of leaders being vocal, explicit and sincere about their commitment to living the organisation’s values. They also surface a variety of tangible things organisations can do to reduce the exploitation of power, like:

- admit when there are failures, even though it is uncomfortable

- give immediate, timely and sustained support to victims and survivors, irrespective of the status of evidence and investigations

- integrate and emphasize values in vacancy notices, hiring, inductions and trainings

- ensure hires are screened, briefed, trained and sign a Code of Conduct

- build confidence in systems for reporting and investigations by resourcing them and showing results (e.g. an open accessible dashboard on the website tracking complaints follow-up, timely investigations, and following through with disciplinary actions);

- prevent retaliation against those reporting misconduct, even the subtle forms (e.g. letting contracts expire)

- create psychologically safe spaces to learn and speak up (e.g. upstander trainings as well as facilitating interactions between men and women, professionals and non-professionals, international and national staff)

- obliging every team across the organisation to select a team objective related to values, and assessing progress at the end of the year.

Dr. Gaya Gamhewage is a medical doctor and public health expert with three decades of experience in the health sector. She has worked with the World Health Organization for over 20 years, mostly leading institutional capacity-building initiatives for health emergencies, including COVID-19 trainings. Since July 2021, she has been the Director a.i. for Prevention of and Response to Sexual Misconduct. Prior to this, Dr. Gamhewage was Head of Learning & Capacity Development for WHO's Health Emergencies Programme and worked in the Executive Director's Office where she introduced social learning for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Previously she led new areas of work for WHO including in health communications & behavioral change; risk communications & community engagement; and most recently, lifelong learning for health which included the development of the first-ever WHO Global Learning Strategy for Public Health. Dr Gamhewage has worked for national and international NGOs including the Save the Children UK and Norway, and was at the beginning of her career the Director of Community Health for Sarvodaya, a Sri Lankan NGO working in more than 15,000 villages. She holds two Masters Degrees in addition to her medical degree - in International Health and in International Policy-Making and Negotiation.

To learn more, check out:

- WHO Director-General's opening remarks. The role of CSOs in the prevention, detection, and response to sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment – 26 April 2022. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks.-the-role-of-csos-in-the-prevention--detection--and-response-to-sexual-exploitation--abuse--and-harassment---26-april-2022

- Dotiv the Podcast, Episode 3: A journey from journalism to public health https://dotiv.life/dr-gaya-i-ep-3-a-journey-from-journalism-to-public-health/

- Twitter: @GayaG

- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gamhewage-gaya-36a1677

***Thanks to Ziada Abeid for editing the show.***