HDIN Publishes Landmark Competency-Based Framework for Health Diplomacy Training
The Health Diplomacy Institutional Network (HDIN) is proud to announce the publication of its new paper, "Preparing current and emerging health leaders: An innovative competency-based framework for health diplomacy" in PLOS Global Public Health.
Drawing on wide-ranging consultation and co-creation with academic and other partners worldwide, the paper responds to a gap the network has observed first-hand: while health diplomacy is increasingly central to how countries and institutions navigate complex global risks—including pandemics, climate change, AI-driven disruptions, and geopolitical fragmentation—training in the field has remained fragmented, varying widely in length, depth, and content, with no shared core curriculum.
Co-created by HDIN members and grounded in real-world practice, the framework identifies five key competencies for effective health diplomacy:
- Essential global health knowledge
- Political and power analysis and diplomacy skills
- Strategic decision-making and leadership
- Cross-cultural and interpersonal communication
- Coalition-building and advocacy
Each competency is mapped across four progressive levels of mastery: basic, intermediate, proficient, and expert, allowing institutions to tailor training to learners' roles, experience, and context, from early-career desk officers to ministers and global health ambassadors. Rather than prescribing a single curriculum, the HDIN Training Framework is deliberately flexible and outcomes based.
The framework marks a step toward professionalising health diplomacy as a distinct field of practice, offering academic institutions, governments, NGOs, private sector and multilateral organizations a common reference point for building the next generation of health diplomats.
HDIN thanks its member institutions and the many practitioners who contributed their expertise and experience to shaping this framework. We hope it proves a useful, practical resource for the broader health diplomacy community.
Read the full paper in PLOS Global Public Health: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0004974
Authors: Esperanza Martinez, Ellen Rosskam, Garry Aslanyan, Lyndsay Baines, Ryuichi Komatsu, Nikica Darabos, Brian Li Han Wong, Nina Viberg, Mariko Hososawa, Ren Minghui, Magda Robalo Correia e Silva, Anders Nordstrom