From 11–14 September 2025, ICARS co-hosted and participated in the ReAct Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. Under the theme “From Declaration to Action: Operationalising One Health AMR Action in the Asia Pacific Region”, the conference convened diverse stakeholders to explore how global momentum on AMR can be translated into actionable, country-led solutions.
ICARS pre-conference day: Bringing together project teams
Ahead of the main conference, ICARS hosted a closed pre-conference event for project teams working across the Asia Pacific region. The gathering provided a platform to share project updates, exchange experiences, and strengthen regional networks.
A speed networking session encouraged participants to share lessons from their AMR projects spanning human health, animal health, and the environment. Teams highlighted country-specific challenges and offered practical insights to support colleagues whose projects are in earlier stages of implementation.
The day also gave participants the chance to contribute to the forthcoming Resource Guide for Sustainable AMR Solutions, funded by Wellcome and facilitated by the One Health Development Initiative and Ducit Blue Foundation.
In addition, project teams formed collaboration clusters to explore key cross-cutting themes, including:
- Challenges in quantitative and qualitative data analysis within an Intervention and Implementation framework
- Identifying key challenges and solutions in applying behavioural sciences to achieve behaviour change, and explore community engagement as a tool to obtain behaviour change
- Securing political buy-in and communicating results
Professor Talant Sooronbaev, Project Coordinator of an ICARS-supported project in Kyrgyzstan reflected on the session saying:
“This was the first time that I interacted with ICARS-supported projects in this manner. It is great to see that ICARS support covers so many unique projects and fields. The sessions today gave me the inspiration and motivation for new project ideas in my country”
Showcasing solutions: ICARS’ contributions at the conference
ICARS’ contributions throughout the conference highlighted its role in advancing implementation research for AMR. Presentations of ICARS projects drew strong interest and showcased ICARS’ innovative solution-oriented approach.
Project teams and ICARS staff moderated sessions, appeared on panels, presented posters and delivered oral presentations, engaging policymakers, researchers, and civil society representatives, sparking valuable discussions and opening opportunities for new collaborations.
ICARS’ Executive Director, Dr. Sujith J. Chandy, spoke on a panel about ‘Financing the AMR response’ with representatives from the World Bank, the Pandemic Fund, ReAct Europe, ReAct Africa and Nagasaki University. In his intervention, Sujith elaborated on the different challenges in mobilising political will and domestic co-financing for AMR and emphasised the need for sustainable solutions:
“Strategies are urgently needed that can help align donor investments with country ownership and ensure sustainability. Proposed interventions for mitigating AMR need to be accessible, affordable, feasible, usable and adoptable…critical ingredients for creating sustainable solutions!”
Furthermore, together with Senior Science Advisor, Erica Westwood, Dr. Sujith J. Chandy presented on the ICARS approach to Sustainable Implementation. Their presentation introduced the ICARS model and intervention and implementation research framework, showcased ICARS-supported projects putting the ideas into practice, and introduced the upcoming sustainable impact resource guide being developed with funding from Wellcome.
View the posters
Next steps
By bringing together diverse perspectives and showcasing practical solutions, the ReAct Asia Pacific Conference provided an important step toward operationalising One Health approaches to AMR. ICARS will work with project partners to carry forward the momentum generated, turning dialogue into concrete action for sustainable impact in the region.
