Mesfin Teklu T.
Senior Director, Head of Health Unit @International Rescue Committee
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WORK HISTORY
Senior Director, Head of Health Unit @International Rescue Committee
NY, US
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among the world’s leading humanitarian relief and development organizations. IRC’s health programs comprise the largest proportion of its overall program budget and are essential to both IRC emergency response and long term programming worldwide. Working within IRC’s department of Policy & Practice (P&P) and a member of IRC’s larger Senior Leadership Group, the Senior Director is IRC’s programmatic and thought leader in Health, responsible for managing teams that deliver the highest quality technical support to more than 40 IRC country offices and emergency response team.
EDUCATION
Jimma University
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Medicine
Jimma University
Doctor of Medicine - MD, Medicine
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy/ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Master of Arts (MA), Humanitarian Assistance and Nutrition
ABOUT MESFIN TEKLU T.
Dr. Mesfin Teklu Tessema is the Head of the Health Unit at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where he leads IRC’s efforts in diverse areas of health programming and policy. The Health Unit is one of IRC’s technical units, which has more than 70 technical and support staff, responsible for providing high-quality technical assistance to IRC country programs, lead focused research and advocacy. With over 25 years of experience in public health, nutrition, and humanitarian affairs, he brings a wealth of expertise to his role. Before joining the IRC in 2017, he held significant leadership positions with various international organizations. Most notably, he served as the global health lead for World Vision International, and concurrently as the Director of the Geneva office for the same organization. Additionally, he worked as a Senior Nutritionist for Save the Children. As a medical doctor, he practiced medicine in public and private healthcare settings in Ethiopia. Currently, he holds the position of Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health at Columbia University and is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Humanitarian Health. Additionally, he is the strategic Advisor for the World Health Organization FoundationDr. Tessema is an active contributor to Global Health Initiatives, having served on the Gavi Vaccine Alliance Partnership Team, COVAX leadership group, the funding committee for Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises, and as an Investors Group member of the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children and Adolescents. He is the founder and former co-director of the executive course on health diplomacy and humanitarian space at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. Moreover, he is the author of the health chapter in the 2011 edition of the Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. Dr Tessema earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Jimma University in Ethiopia and holds a Master of Arts in Humanitarian Assistance from Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.
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