Dissaliba Winga

You were recently appointed Secretary General of the Togolese Ministry of Access to Healthcare and Universal Health Coverage.

Could you briefly describe your professional background before and after the DU GEOSS, and what motivated you to apply for this diploma?

I joined the social security sector in 2011, having previously worked as an operations director at an insurance broker and as a marketing, client and partnership assistant at a bank.

In 2018, following a training session on ISSA guidelines for contribution collection and compliance in Paris, I realised that EN3S was the institution that could offer me both high-level training through an extensive network of social protection professionals, while allowing me to remain connected to my home institution — and that is what motivated my application.

Admitted as a trainee at EN3S in the 2024 DU GEOSS cohort, I was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Access to Healthcare and Universal Health Coverage upon completing the programme.

Could you tell us about the context of your recent appointment at the Togolese Ministry of Access to Healthcare and Universal Health Coverage, and outline the challenges and projects you need to drive forward — your roadmap?

With the rollout of universal health insurance in Togo, a number of significant challenges must be addressed:

• Including populations from the informal and agricultural sectors by removing financial barriers to healthcare access
• Identifying vulnerable populations and establishing sustainable resource mobilisation mechanisms to fund their care
• Improving the supply of healthcare services, particularly at the primary level, to enable populations in remote areas to access care more easily
• Establishing sound governance and a management framework for health insurance that guarantees performance and accountability
• Developing strategies to encourage populations to enrol in universal health insurance

These are among the priorities on the Ministry’s roadmap, the technical coordination of which falls under the responsibility of the Secretary General.

You completed the DU GEOSS delivered by EN3S in partnership with the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne from January to June 2024. Did this training play a role in your career development? Were there specific aspects of the programme that particularly prepared you for your new role?

Leading projects as part of a team of trainees from different countries, each bringing diverse and varied experience, was a genuine achievement and represents a major asset in the context of my new responsibilities.

Presenting research findings in plenary sessions, along with the effort of synthesis required of trainees, prepared me to approach social protection issues through an integrated lens and to report on them in a clear and concise manner.

The EN3S DU GEOSS was, without a doubt, the credential that proved decisive in the decision to appoint me.

What advice would you give to future candidates for this diploma?

To future DU GEOSS candidates — now becoming the Master GEOSS — I would advise having a clear professional project in mind and being ready to work consistently in a multicultural environment that encourages exchange and the sharing of experiences.