Discussions focused on identifying the most critical strategic directions for the Network at this juncture, including clarifying what concrete and collective commitments should be undertaken in 2026 to strengthen JLN’s relevance, effectiveness, and country impact. Steering Group and CCG-CoP members engaged in open and constructive dialogue on ways to deepen country engagement and more firmly anchor CCGs within strengthened country-level processes and reforms. Financing, Primary healthcare, Non-communicable diseases, Mental health, Climate resilience, Digital health continued to emerge as critical priorities that need collaborative action and focused initiatives such as the Joint Learning Fund for collective problem solving. As an outcome of these deliberations, Steering Group members articulated a set of action-oriented priorities aimed at strengthening core JLN functions, including governance, strategic positioning, fundraising, and the effective implementation of the Joint Learning Fund embedded within the collaboratives to enable implementation learning approach and implementation research for evidence based programming. These action plans provide clear strategic direction for the Network, with an agreed timeline for implementation by June 2026, ensuring continuity and focus as JLN moves into its next phase.The Network Manager, in close collaboration with the JLN World Bank team, will lead the coordination and implementation of these agreed actions, working closely with Steering Group members and country representatives to ensure alignment with country learning priorities and sustained progress toward JLN’s strategic objectives.

Cities in low- and middle-income countries are experiencing significant expansion. The World Bank estimates that India's urban population will increase by 40% by 2036, necessitating an investment of $840 billion in infrastructure over the next five years. Given the urgent challenges related to urban health, how can low- and middle-income countries ensure access to integrated, quality, and affordable health care in line with their goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC)?This webinar, co-hosted by Management Sciences for Health and the Joint Learning Network, will focus on "Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Urban Settings: Incentives, Challenges, and Opportunities." It will address emerging issues in urban health in India, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. The discussion will deliberate on innovative financing strategies for population health in urban areas, approaches to reducing out-of-pocket expenses, and how to leverage development finance to achieve equity and efficiency in healthcare delivery. Participants will also be able to engage in a Q&A session during the latter half of the webinar.

On May 27th, the Joint Learning Network (JLN) took centre stage at a special showcase held on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva. Jointly hosted by JLN, UHC Delivery Lab and Amref Health Africa, with the support of UHC2030, the session was a vibrant platform for sharing impactful stories and discussing future collaborations. The event, attended by over 75 participants in person and 24 virtually, brought together policymakers, representatives from civil society organizations, pharmaceutical companies, UHC advocacy organizations, WHO, the Global Fund, Cochrane, and other stakeholders.The focus of the session was on the transformative impact of JLN in countries like Malaysia and Ghana. A representative from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation highlighted the critical value of investing in collaborative platforms like JLN. "South-South collaboration is a powerful tool for driving sustainable health reforms," said Dr. Jean Kagubare, Deputy Director of PHC at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "Our investments show that cross-country learning not only accelerates innovation but also builds stronger, more resilient health systems. The real win is seeing these collaborations translate into tangible improvements in healthcare delivery and outcomes."

The JLN’s new Digital Health Collaborative held its first in-person convening in Jakarta, Indonesia, from November 8  through 10, 2023. Member countries of the Digital Health Collaborative are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Senegal. The key objectives of this inaugural convening of the JLN Digital Health Collaborative included;
launching the new Collaborative,scoping and prioritizing the learning agenda with the members of the Collaborative andinitiating knowledge co-production by the Collaborative.
The Collaborative launch was co-located with the Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN) General Meetings to allow JLN participants to join AeHIN General Meetings (from November 6-8, 2023). Twenty-nine (29) representatives from 14 out of 15 Collaborative member countries attended the meetings in person. The Digital Health Collaborative Launch meeting was kick-started by a site visit to the headquarters of Indonesia’s Social Health Insurance Agency, BPJS-Health, on November 8, followed by scoping discussions on November 9 and 10.

As part of the JLN@10 celebrations, the Nigeria sub-national JLN Country Core Group (CCG) and the World Bank Nigeria office, in collaboration with the forum of CEOs of State Social Health Insurance Schemes (SSHIS) in Nigeria, hosted a virtual webinar to share and learn from the experience of Nigerian states in implementing health insurance decentralization reforms. The JLN has provided a platform for peer to peer learning amongst policymakers in Nigerian states as they set up their health insurance schemes. Facilitation support for the webinar was provided by the World Bank JLN DRM collaborative technical team. Following opening remarks by the Honourable Minister for State Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, panelists shared their experiences in the operationalization, legislation, and implementation of the SSHIS and in establishing the Health Equity Fund as well as strategic purchasing at the state level. Forty-two participants discussed practitioner learnings from expanding coverage and the role of the SSHIAs in the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund of the National Health Act of 2014.The Nigeria sub-national Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage is a state-to-state network that connects practitioners and policymakers to enable learning exchange and knowledge co-production in support of health care financing reform, both across states and between the state and federal levels. 

The vision for a community of country practitioners working side-by-side to strengthen their health systems and make progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) had its humble roots at a World Health Assembly event in May 2009, when representatives from Ghana, India, Thailand, and Vietnam met to discuss their government-led health financing reform efforts