External Relations Officer, Parliamentary engagement, Department of Health & Multilateral Partnerships, WHO
Elisa Scolaro is an external and partnerships relations expert with a background in diplomatic relations, public health, and international cooperation. She graduated in International Political Sciences from the University of Messina, Italy, with a focus on international politics and diplomacy. Elisa later obtained a post-graduate certificate in Health Policy Management from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, and in 2011, she completed post-graduate studies in Development and International Cooperation at the Institute for the Studies of International Politics in Milan.
In 2009, Elisa joined the World Health Organization (WHO) to work with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH), collaborating closely with the Department of Reproductive Health and Research of the WHO. Her work focused on strengthening relationships with member states, governance, and fostering private sector partnerships. In 2011, she transitioned to a Technical Officer role in the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, and later in the Director’s Office, where she managed political stakeholder relations and conducted policy research on the impact of legislation on sexual and reproductive health.
After more than eight years in the field of women’s, children’s, and adolescent health, Elisa moved to the Department of Health and Multilateral Partnerships, where she was tasked by the Director-General to scale up the organization’s parliamentary affairs program. Since 2019, she has served as the External Relations Officer for parliamentary affairs. In this capacity, she represents WHO at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assemblies and represents WHO as a Permanent Observer within the IPU Advisory Group on Health.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Scolaro was part of the core team in charge of the development and management of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, a pioneering mechanism to mobilize private sector resources for global health.
