Leaders wanted: the story of public health leadership programme in Ukraine

Abstract Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and war, Ukraine continues its major public health system transformation initiated in 2016. In 2022, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine designated key public health institutions: the Ukrainian Public Health Center and a network of 25 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Searching for leaders to run newly established institutions quickly became a priority. To find and empower public health leaders, the Ministry, jointly with the Public Health Center and WHO Country Office, launched a Public Health Leadership Programme with an open call. The 3-stage selection process took place from November 2023 to January 2024. It was designed in alignment with the WHO-ASPHER Competency Framework for Public Health Workforce in the European Region, ensuring that each stage assessed relevant leadership competencies in a structured and coherent manner: Application phase: evaluating vision, motivation, and professional background; Professional questionnaire: measuring public health technical competencies; Leadership in action: assessing leadership competencies through a group case study on a complex public health challenge. Of the 272 applicants, 75 finalists were selected from various areas such as CDCs, hospitals, academia, NGOs, etc. Participants received personalized development reports and were invited to a 2-week WHO European Public Health Leadership Course covering One Health, health promotion, and emergency preparedness competencies through problem-based learning and expert sessions in collaboration with EUPHA. Furthermore, the Programme is ongoing and offers a platform for regular exchange sessions where participants openly share and discuss their own public health projects, practices, and studies. This competency-based Programme united public health leaders across different levels, regions, and institutions into a diverse community of practice. Key messages • The Public Health Leadership Programme in Ukraine offers a unique and transferable competency-based methodology to search for leaders and advance their competencies. • The Public Health Leadership Programme in Ukraine serves as a case of community-building for empowering talents and informal public health leaders.