Runa Khan Highlights Community-Driven Solutions at the One Health for All forum
by Kingbadantee Sabir,
7 January, 2025
On 16 December 2025, the Operational Recommendations from the One Sustainable Health for All Forum, held from 3 to 5 November in Lyon, were formally presented at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) in Paris, France. The event, titled OSH for All Lyon 2025: Healthy Planet for Healthy Life, brought these key outcomes before the French government and other key European institutional leaders and stakeholders, aiming to reinforce the call for integrated, cross-sectoral action that links planetary health with human health.
Speaking at the event, the founder of Friendship and Honorary President of the One Sustainable Health for All Forum, Runa Khan, emphasised the vital importance of equity, inclusion, and community-centred resilience in shaping sustainable health systems for both people and the planet.
Bangladesh’s One Health Landscape and the Gaps that Remain
Since the formation of the One Health Secretariat in 2007, Bangladesh has made important progress in institutionalising One Health and aligned with global strategies such as the WHO Pandemic Agreement. However, the delivery of this vision remains uneven, especially in hard-to-reach, climate-vulnerable areas where risks to human, animal, and environmental health converge.
Despite a strong policy foundation and international alignment, significant gaps persist. The operationalisation of One Health remains concentrated in Dhaka, and awareness at the district, sub-district, and union levels remains limited. Interdisciplinary, field-based research is lacking, and access to integrated data systems remains a challenge. Additionally, financing for One Health implementation at the local level remains scarce, with most efforts relying on short-term projects and external funding. Friendship’s approach already reflects the core principles outlined by the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), including equity, sustainability, and transdisciplinary collaboration.
Friendship’s Contribution: From Strategy to Field Implementation
Friendship works precisely where these gaps are most visible, within char islands and coastal belts where communities live on the front lines of climate change. With over 23 years of experience, the organisation has built integrated approaches that deliver healthcare, strengthen livelihoods, restore ecosystems, and foster community resilience.
Through its wide-reaching health delivery network, Friendship provides essential services in hard-to-reach regions. It supports community-based animal health workers, farmer and fisher groups, and engages in large-scale interventions such as mangrove restoration, water security, and climate-smart agriculture. These actions directly address the core components of the One Health approach.
To guide its work, Friendship has also developed a One Health Manual that integrates human, animal, crop, and soil health. The organisation has proposed piloting One Health Model Communities that demonstrate safe slaughtering practices, hygiene, climate-resilient farming, and ecosystem restoration, all within a single operational framework.
OSH Lyon 2025: Elevating Local Lessons to the Global Stage
Friendship played a significant role at the 3rd World Conference on One Sustainable Health for All, held at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon in November 2025, not merely as a participant but as a contributing partner in shaping the global One Health agenda.
Ahead of the conference, Friendship hosted one of the official international preparatory events in Bangladesh in 2025 and the same in 2023, ensuring that the experiences and insights from climate-vulnerable, low-resource communities were meaningfully represented. This global engagement helped anchor the OSH agenda in practical realities, particularly in regions where the impacts of environmental degradation and public health insecurity are deeply intertwined.
In Lyon this November, Friendship presented its findings from Bangladesh, drawing attention to the intersection of One Health and climate action at the community level. The organisation’s climate-adaptive One Health model, already being implemented on the ground, generated significant interest for its holistic approach, integrating human, animal, and environmental health in areas facing multiple vulnerabilities.
Friendship was also actively involved in the launch of the OSH Factory, a new collaborative platform introduced during the conference to co-develop tangible, scalable health and climate solutions. The initiative marked a shift from discussion to action, aligning closely with Friendship’s commitment to bridging policy with implementation in the most at-risk communities.
A Timely Opportunity for Scaled Impact
As Bangladesh moves into the next phase of its One Health journey, with a revised strategic framework for 2025 to 2030, the need for grounded, field-level implementation partners has become urgent. Friendship’s position between government systems, grassroots realities, and international platforms makes it a uniquely relevant actor in this space. Friendship’s integrated climate adaptation model is central to this role, connecting health, livelihoods, climate resilience, and environmental restoration across sectors.
By aligning its field networks with national efforts, piloting scalable models, and sharing lessons with both policymakers and global partners, Friendship continues to demonstrate how One Health can succeed not just in theory but in practice. For the most vulnerable communities in Bangladesh, this work is not just about systems change, but about survival, dignity, and resilience.
