Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation

What it reported doing in 2024

The University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) is a first-of-its-kind global health sciences university pioneering a new approach to education. Based in Rwanda, PIH launched this international university in 2015 with the mission to radically change the way health care is delivered around the world by training generations of global health professionals who strive to deliver more equitable, quality health services for all. UGHE graduates emerge ready to tackle the world's most pressing health challenges. Africa's health workforce bears 24% of the global disease burden but represents only 3% of the world's health workers. UGHE is designed to bridge this critical gap by training a new generation of leaders equipped to strengthen health systems and develop innovative clinical approaches. One key initiative is UGHE's partnership with Rwanda's ambitious 4x4 program, which aims to quadruple the number of health workers within four years. UGHE's flagship degree programs revolve around community health and social medicine. Students master social determinants of health, accompanying underserved patients, and delivering care in low-resourced communities. UGHE has graduated public health experts via the Master of Science in Global Health Delivery (MGHD) degree, and trains aspiring physicians through the joint Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) - MGHD program. The diverse student body is majority women and includes students from more than 30 countries, building the health care workforce capacity in dozens of countries in Africa and beyond. UGHE's campus in Rwanda's rural Burera District features strategic design elements to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. The hands-on educational environment includes an innovative clinical simulation center, fully equipped laboratory spaces, and teleconferencing facilities for remote instruction by leading clinicians. Planned expansions to the UGHE campus will add teaching and learning space, library and laboratory capacity, enhance the simulation center, broaden research capabilities, and extend student services. The campus is also intentionally located near PIH-supported Butaro Level II Teaching Hospital, the first district-level teaching hospital in all of Rwanda, where UGHE medical students perform their clinical rotations. UGHE faculty have earned distinguished recognition on the global stage as part of the Stanford-Elsevier 2025 list of the world's top 2% most influential scientists. The ranking was based on standardized citation metrics and highlights how research at the UGHE moves "into clinics, classrooms, and policy rooms." This achievement reflects UGHE's research culture, where the Institute of Global Health Equity Research (IGHER) actively closes gaps between evidence and delivery through participatory studies designed with communities, health workers, and decision-makers. Students in the MBBS-MGHD program start research early, gaining practical experience in community medicine. During 2024 and 2025, UGHE published 199 research papers in peer-reviewed journals. As Rwanda focuses on open data and evidence-based health systems, UGHE's faculty and students demonstrate how local science improves lives, from influencing clinical practices to shaping health policy. In 2025, UGHE was selected as the Secretariat and institutional home of the Consortium of Medical Schools in Africa (CoMSA), a first-of-its-kind, inclusive, and continent-wide collaboration aimed at transforming health professional education across Africa. This highlights how UGHE has become a global hub for global health education, leading the way in training the next generation of health professionals who are equipped not just with clinical skills, but with a deep understanding of social justice and equity.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
• Program expense ratio: 86.6%; rating input score 87
• Fundraising efficiency: $22.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
• Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
• Public monitoring controls: Limited
• Public policy transparency: Limited
• Public financial transparency: Limited
• Impact reporting controls: Limited
• Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
• Public governance controls: Limited
• Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 15.6%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Operating reserve ratio: 1.61; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings