The World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi brought together global health leaders, policymakers, researchers, innovators, civil society organizations and young leaders to discuss the future of Africa’s health systems under the theme “Reimagining Africa’s Health Systems: Innovation, Integration and Interdependence.” Hosted by Aga Khan University, the summit provided a valuable platform for dialogue, collaboration and action toward strengthening healthcare systems across the continent.

Representing Stowelink Foundation at the summit was Naila Chebet Koech, the organization’s Mental Health Lead, whose participation reflected Stowelink’s continued commitment to advancing mental health advocacy, youth engagement and stronger health systems across Africa.

Reimagining Africa’s Health Systems

The summit officially opened with powerful keynote speeches from distinguished leaders, including Prof. Axel Radlach Pries and Prof. Lukoye Atwoli, who emphasized the urgent need for actionable frameworks to address Africa’s evolving health challenges.

The opening plenary highlighted the importance of innovation and sustainable investment in strengthening healthcare systems. Discussions focused on the need for resilient and people-centered health systems capable of addressing both current and emerging health challenges across the continent.

The plenary also featured remarks from C.S Aden Duale and H.E Dr. William Ruto (the president of Kenya), who highlighted Africa’s growing role as an active contributor in global health and emphasized the importance of sustainable financing in building resilient healthcare systems.

Beyond the opening sessions, the summit provided opportunities for engagement in critical conversations around:

• Financing and scaling women and youth-led health innovations
• Integrating mental health into primary healthcare
• Strengthening digital health systems
• Advancing Universal Health Coverage across Africa

Youth Leadership in Health Governance

On the second day of the summit, Naila contributed as a speaker during a panel discussion on “Youth Leadership in Health Governance.“

The discussion focused on the importance of meaningful youth engagement in strengthening health systems and shaping health policies. A key message throughout the session was that in Africa, where young people make up nearly 60–70% of the population, youth leadership remains essential to achieving sustainable and inclusive health progress.

The panel emphasized that youth engagement must move beyond representation and tokenism toward meaningful participation in decision-making spaces. Discussions highlighted the need to:

• Invest in youth leadership, mentorship and capacity building
• Institutionalise youth voices within governance structures
• Support and fund youth-led innovations
• Create safe and inclusive spaces for young leaders
• Engage young people as equal partners and co-creators in strengthening health systems

The session reinforced the idea that meaningful youth engagement is not about giving young people a voice, but about recognizing that young people already have voices and ensuring that those voices are heard and included in decision-making processes.

Reflections from the Summit

For Stowelink Foundation, participation in the summit represented an important opportunity to contribute to high-level discussions while showcasing the role of youth-led and community-driven organizations in advancing health equity, mental health advocacy and non-communicable disease prevention across Africa.

The summit served as a reminder that Africa’s health future will be shaped through partnership, shared leadership, innovation and bold action.