Emma Margarita Iriarte Carcamo

Emma Iriarte, Principal Sector Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank Group, is the Executive Secretary of the Salud Mesoamérica Initiative (SMI) a public private partnership between the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carlos Slim Foundation, the Government of Spain, and Canada and 8 countries of Mesoamerica. She is also responsible for managing the Regional Malaria Elimination Initiative in Mesoamerica and the Dominican Republic (RMEI) covering 10 countries of the LAC region. Both Initiatives implement a results-based financing model; USD180m from donor funding has leveraged around USD 85m from domestic funding. She has managed, supervised, and led health programs supporting country governments in Latin America and the Caribbean. Emma has experience in systemic and sectorial approaches, in establishing strategic alliances, in results-based financing schemes and in implementing system quality of care strategies. Emma is results oriented and passionate about equity, innovation, collective impact, and organizations that learn. Emma is a medical doctor graduated from the National University of Honduras and has a master’s degree in Public Health from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA.