Dr. Maro Chhum, from Cambodia, obtained her bachelor’s degree in medicine from the University of Health Sciences (in Cambodia) and a master’s degree in global health from the University of Sydney, where she was a recipient of an Australia Awards Scholarship. Currently employed at UNICEF as a Health and Nutrition Officer, Ms. Chhum has over eight years of experience working on various public health programs, including maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), malaria elimination, and pandemic response. Her work primarily focuses on grant management, monitoring & evaluation, and policy advocacy for MNCH service quality improvement, health emergencies response, and non-communicable diseases prevention, particularly in the areas of mental and environmental health. 

Through her work at UNICEF, she has supported the Ministry of Health in policy development and program implementation, focusing on primary health care strengthening as part of the Primary Health Care Booster Implementation Framework (PHC-BIF), and sustainable financing mechanisms for community health workers as part of the Policy for Community Participation. During her fellowship, Ms. Chhum plans to gain hands-on experience and knowledge by working with interdisciplinary fellows and organizations that focus on sustainable health financing for universal health coverage (UHC) and policies for strengthening primary health care systems.