Isabel Mestres: Something I have in common with Nigerians

Isabel Mestres shared a post on LinkedIn:

“There’s something I have in common with Nigerians: we love competition and, of course, winning!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in the first City Cancer Challenge City Executive Committee (CEC) meeting in Abuja, chaired by Federal Capital Territory Administration mandate secretary Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe (an impressive woman). This came after an intense phase of national and local stakeholder mapping and engagement led by our amazing city manager, Chris Chukwunyere, over the past few months.

The CEC is C/Can City’s governance body, bringing together all the key stakeholders in cancer care. This ensures that ALL voices are heard, decision-making is agile, and there’s alignment across all ongoing plans and activities.

Sure, multisectoral governance comes with its big challenges: different goals and priorities, system fragmentation, and unavoidable power dynamics. But despite all this, I witnessed a committed group of leaders coming together to drive transformative change and improve the lives of people living with cancer. The mantra in the  room was ‘WE CAN, WE CAN, AND WE CAN.’

I not only learned about how competitive Nigerians are (they loudly declared they want to be the best city and set the benchmark for the African continent ), but also about their resilience and long-term commitment. It was clear that setting up a governance committee is manageable; the real challenge is maintaining that commitment till the end, whatever it takes. But now I know what drives them to become the reference city for the continent and the world.

I accept this challenge, CEC! Thank you all for your leadership, passion, and willingness to collaborate. Let’s make this happen! ”

Source: Isabel Mestres/LinkedIn

Isabel Mestres is the CEO of the City Cancer Challenge (C/Can), previously being the Director of Global Public Affairs. She also led initiatives in membership and partnership development at the International Union for Cancer Control. Mestres’ strategic sense positions her to propel C/Can forward, advancing its mission of enhancing cancer care accessibility in low- and middle-income nations.