Catalyzing Local Actions Towards Resilient Health Systems at the Philanthropy Asia Summit

During the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2026 last May 18 to 20, 2026, Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) President and Executive Director Austere Panadero spoke on how to catalyze local governments towards resilient health and nutrition systems.

Since 2016, ZFF has been working with local governments on health and nutrition governance through improved leadership capabilities. From our journey with local governments, we shared these lessons:

• Resources matter: Devolution gives local governments responsibility for health and nutrition service delivery, but not all local governments have the funds and capacity to deliver.
• Working together creates impact: Real progress happens when local governments, civil society, and private partners converge to support nutrition plans.
• Local leadership drives change: Through ZFF’s Pook Malusog programs like the Nutrition Leadership and Equity Acceleration Program (NutriLEAP), which builds the capacity of local leaders to govern their nutrition systems better, we’ve seen provinces strengthen systems, reduce stunting, and improve maternal and child nutrition.

At a session of Philanthropy Asia Alliance, Panadero also shared how poverty and gender inequality drive systemic inequities from one generation to the next. Fragmented delivery systems, activity‑based financing, and siloed interventions often limit impact. Change begins when governments move beyond sector-based actions using governance as an anchor for systemic reforms.

The challenge for philanthropists is ensuring that their advocacies enable changes towards more resilient systems. Sustainable interventions are those that allow local governments to balance urgent priorities and lead the changes to better outcomes.

The Summit amplified the call for collective action: resilient health and nutrition systems cannot be built by one institution alone. To truly dismantle intergenerational drivers of inequality, we need empowered local governments, gender‑responsive approaches, systemic reforms, and partnerships that endure across generations.

ZFF is committed to catalyzing local actions towards resilient health and nutrition systems to end cycles of malnutrition and advance equity for women, children, and communities across the Philippines.