From community engagement to health coordination: Rebeca Sabou’s humanitarian journey

RedR Australia roster member Rebeca Sabou is supporting the WHO-led Health Cluster in Bangladesh as a Health Cluster Support Officer. In a complex humanitarian setting and a context of reduced funding, her work helps sustain essential health services for the Rohingya population through evidence-based, data-driven prioritisation and strong coordination across partners.

What I find most meaningful is contributing to coordination that helps protect essential health services in a complex humanitarian setting. Supporting the WHO-led Health Cluster through the 2026 Joint Response Plan demonstrated how evidence-based, data-driven prioritisation and strong coordination across partners can sustain life-saving interventions for the Rohingya population.

Collaboration is central to this role. Working closely with the Health Cluster Coordinator, Information Management Officer and health partners has been critical in aligning priorities and supporting prioritised decision-making. Effective coordination depends on continuous dialogue and bringing partners together around shared evidence and objectives.

Three skills stand out: strong inter-agency and multi-stakeholder coordination, the ability to translate data into actionable priorities, and strong negotiation skills to facilitate consensus between Health Cluster partners.

Rebeca’s previous deployment in Timor-Leste focused on public health risk communication and community engagement to increase awareness of rabies and advocate for higher animal vaccination rates. While Bangladesh is more system-focused and Timor-Leste was more community-facing, both roles share the same objective: protecting public health through informed decision-making and partner coordination.

Humanitarian work operates where complexity meets consequence. Rebeca is motivated by ensuring that, even in crisis, systems remain responsive and people continue to access the care they need.