Rudi Coninx, MD, MPH

Dr. Rudi Coninx was the Senior Policy Adviser in the Office of the Assistant-Director General for Emergency Response at WHO until 2022 when he retired. He leads the unit that provides policy guidance and support for operations in disasters and emergencies. He also coordinates with interagency bodies such as the IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee) and translates policy into practice. Dr. Coninx is a medical doctor from Belgium and graduated from the University of Leuven in 1982. He holds a master's degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.

Dr. Coninx has extensive experience in working in humanitarian emergencies since 1983. He has worked with MSF (Médecins sans Frontières) on missions in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Thailand. He has also worked with the United Nations Border Relief Operation (UNBRO) as a health coordinator at the Thai-Cambodian border, with WHO in Pakistan and Afghanistan during Operation Salam, and with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in various field locations such as Sudan, Ethiopia, Mexico (Chiapas), Mozambique, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. In addition, he has worked with the ICRC in Geneva as a technical advisor for public health programs, as an H.E.L.P. course coordinator (Health Emergencies in Large Populations), as a focal point for ICRC tuberculosis control programs in prisons, and as a health focal point for ICRC health programs in Africa.

Dr. Coninx joined WHO in Geneva in 2008 and has held various roles in the department responsible for managing emergencies. He has served as the Coordinator for emergency institutional readiness, the Coordinator for policy, practice, and evaluation, and the Head of the humanitarian policy and guidance unit