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Mantis Mentor, 46th Floor, Bitexco Financial Tower 2 Hai Trieu Street, Sai Gon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City (2026)

26/09/2026

Norway and Finland are calling for greater control of the world’s most powerful AI models.

At a time when AI governance can feel overshadowed by the race to build more powerful systems, their joint call is a welcome northern light. It brings a concrete proposal for public oversight to the UN General Assembly.

Through NormativeAI, Mantis Mentor’s collaborative on digital technology and AI for policy and practice, we follow how such proposals can become meaningful public oversight.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed “the leadership of the President of Finland and the Prime Minister of Norway” in launching the call.

The proposal asks for testing before deployment, independent evaluation, common standards and reporting of serious safety incidents. It also asks UN Member States to explore an international institution that could set standards and enable verification.

Governance extends to the algorithms people encounter every day. Recommendation systems influence what information people see and how public health messages travel. The EU has introduced greater transparency and choice over recommendations on very large platforms. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner is pressing for safer design, clearer information and more user control over recommendation systems.

International cooperation can draw on the expertise of ITU, UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF and development banks. Governments, researchers and civil society need meaningful roles too. Company safety protocols require independent evaluation and public accountability.

Norway’s leadership at the UN also brings the issue home. A recent Langsikt report points to a gap between the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance’s domestic AI responsibilities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ international mandate. It calls for stronger expertise and coordination across government, a national AI safety body and an international technology strategy.

The Finland–Norway initiative is an opportunity to advance this work internationally and within countries.

Sources:
UN Secretary-General: https://press.un.org/en/2026/sgsm23291.doc.htm

Finland–Norway call: https://www.presidentti.fi/en/a-call-for-control-of-frontier-ai-models/

President Stubb’s UNGA statement: https://www.presidentti.fi/en/statement-by-the-president-of-the-republic-of-finland-alexander-stubb-at-the-general-debate-of-the-81st-session-of-the-un-general-assembly-in-new-york-on-22-september-2026/

EU platform rules: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-impact-platforms

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner: https://www.esafety.gov.au/industry/tech-trends-and-challenges/recommender-systems-and-algorithms

Langsikt report: https://www.langsikt.no/en/publikasjoner/en-norsk-utenrikspolitikk-for-kunstig-intelligens

Langsikt UNICEF UNESCO United Nations Jonas Gahr Støre
Photo: Emmi / Office of the President of the Republic of Finland

21/09/2026

Emergency health and nutrition for today’s crises and tomorrow’s risks

Mantis Mentor is supporting Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation to build and operationalise its emergency health and nutrition practice.

Crises are already affecting millions of people. Many are prolonged, underfunded or neglected. Others can be anticipated before their full impact is felt.

Anticipatory action connects forecasts and risk analysis with pre-agreed decisions, financing and practical measures. It can protect health, nutrition and essential services before predictable hazards cause further harm. It must be integrated with preparedness, readiness, timely response, recovery and longer-term resilience.

The need is urgent. The 2025 Global Report on Food Crises found that more than 295 million people across 53 countries and territories faced acute food insecurity in 2024: https://www.fightfoodcrises.net/report/global-report-food-crises-2025/

The latest UNICEF, WHO and World Bank joint estimates indicate that 42.8 million children under five were affected by wasting, including 12.2 million by severe wasting: https://data.unicef.org/resources/jme-report-2025/

At the same time, international solidarity is retreating. Official development assistance fell by 7.1% in real terms in 2024. Further reductions are weakening overstretched systems and leaving severe crises without adequate attention: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2025/04/official-development-assistance-2024-figures.html

Uptake is therefore building an emergency health and nutrition practice covering:

🟣 climate-related hazards and disasters caused by natural hazards
🟣 conflict, displacement and protracted crises
🟣 epidemics and other public health emergencies
🟣 food insecurity and economic volatility
🟣 preparedness, readiness and anticipatory action
🟣 emergency response, recovery and resilience

Our collaborators bring extensive experience supporting governments, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations and communities across diverse emergency settings. This includes technical leadership, coordination, assessments, programme design and implementation, capacity development, resource mobilization, policy support, evidence generation and moving evidence into action.

The practice will be grounded in the UNICEF Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (https://lnkd.in/g6Qdf5h7), the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards (https://lnkd.in/gDdNmht2), relevant @ Health Organization (WHO) guidance and interagency health and nutrition standards.

We are inviting institutions and individuals to help shape the practice, identify where Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation can make meaningful contributions, complement existing leadership and address critical gaps.

If you share our concerns or work on emergency health and nutrition, anticipatory action, preparedness or resilience, we would welcome a conversation.

Global Nutrition Cluster

13/09/2026

How many newborns who need donor human milk actually receive it in your country?

New global standards must now be translated into stronger services and greater access to donor human milk.

Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation at Mantis Mentor is expanding its practice and portfolio of projects supporting small and vulnerable newborns. This includes early essential newborn care, breastfeeding and access to safe donor human milk when a mother’s own milk is not yet available or sufficient.

The new World Health Organization (WHO) Standards for Donor Human Milk Banking and the implementation guidance with UNICEF provide an important foundation for action.

WHO describes donor human milk as a critical intervention for preterm and low-birthweight infants when their mother’s own milk is unavailable. It should serve as a temporary bridge while mothers receive the skilled support needed to establish and increase their own milk supply.

The implementation guidance also makes clear that there is no single model suitable for every setting. Countries must consider their clinical needs, health-system capacity, infrastructure, regulatory environment, resources and public perceptions. Human milk banking should be integrated into broader maternal and newborn care, with breastfeeding protection and skilled lactation support at its centre.

The standards are global, but implementation must respond to national and local contexts.

Countries, hospitals and services now need to assess whether their systems provide equitable access to safe, high-quality donor human milk and what is required to introduce, strengthen or scale up services.

Uptake can mobilize international and context-specific expertise to provide technical assistance and strategic mentorship for:

💜 national and subnational planning
💜 introduction and scale-up of human milk banking systems
💜 policy, regulatory and operational guideline development
💜 readiness, needs and facility assessments
💜 service models and referral pathways
💜 donor engagement and recruitment strategies
💜 digital or paper-based tracking and tracing systems
💜 quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation
💜 integration with breastfeeding support and newborn care
💜 temporary secondment of expertise at critical stages of implementation
💜 facilitation of knowledge exchange and learning visits

Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation welcomes discussions with ministries of health, hospitals, professional associations, development partners and funders seeking to translate the new global guidance into sustainable services and greater access for newborns.

WHO Standards for Donor Human Milk Banking:
https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/386561

WHO–UNICEF Implementation Guidance on Donor Human Milk Banking:
https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/386571

06/09/2026

A successful assignment should leave more than a deliverable.

What what makes Mantis Mentor different is how we combine expertise with experience, knowledge transfer and innovation.

We see this as part of a new generation of enabling agencies using strategic mentorship to work alongside partners, deliver practical results and strengthen the capabilities needed to carry the work forward.

Our institutional and individual collaborators, including those connected through Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation and NormativeAI, contribute experience across public health, nutrition, social protection, financing, policy, social and behavior change, gender, digital innovation and responsible AI.

Mantis Mentor is also a nest and incubator for new initiatives, collaboratives and solutions. We provide the technical, administrative and operational support needed to develop ideas, test new approaches and turn them into coordinated action.

We connect partners with people who have navigated similar processes of change and can share what worked, what was difficult and what had to be adapted along the way.

We work alongside partners to deliver results, transfer knowledge and strengthen the people, institutions and collaboratives that carry the work forward.

Completing the assignment is only part of creating lasting change.

04/09/2026

Governance is becoming central as AI development accelerates.

Governments, organizations and society need the knowledge and authority to guide how AI is developed, introduced and used.

Through the NormativeAI collaborative, Mantis Mentor focuses on these governance questions and their implications for policy and practice.

Pacing the Frontier https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/ calls for international cooperation to develop ways to slow increasingly automated AI development if it moves beyond our ability to understand or control it. The statement has been signed by 1,386 employees of leading AI companies.

Dawn Song, Vice President of AI Research at Meta, says we need to be “intentional about how it is introduced.”

The implications reach every organization using advanced AI.

Many digital solutions use generative AI developed and updated by external providers. Organizations may decide what a solution should do while having limited control over the model on which it depends.

A model update can change its capabilities, behaviour and risks across every service using it. The surrounding safeguards and staff knowledge may take longer to adjust.

A recent assessment by Guidelight AI Standards https://guidelight.ai/blog/control-assessment-august-2026 shows why stronger oversight is needed. Based on public information, none of five leading AI companies received more than a C+ for how they monitor and control their most advanced systems.

Limited public information may partly explain the scores. This lack of information is itself a governance concern. Governments, organizations and the public cannot examine safeguards that companies do not disclose.

Guidelight’s standards address three areas:

✔️ Capability testing: what an AI system can do and what risks this may create.

✔️ Control: monitoring its behaviour and being able to restrict harmful actions.

✔️ Transparency: enabling independent review and openly reporting serious problems.

Organizations integrating generative AI need to know which model they use, when it changes and whether an update requires new testing. Human review remains essential, along with the ability to restrict, replace or stop using an AI component.

This helps explain why AI governance should be part of international development assistance and why multilateral cooperation matters.

Countries need laws, capable public institutions, technical expertise and independent capacity to assess how AI works in their own languages, populations and settings. Access to the technology without this capacity can deepen dependence on systems developed and controlled elsewhere.

No country can govern these developments alone. Multilateral cooperation can support shared protections, build national capacity and help hold companies operating across borders accountable.

Voluntary standards contribute technical knowledge and encourage good practice. Decisions about acceptable risks and public protection require independent oversight and enforceable rules.

02/09/2026

How can we make AI work better for research?

Generative AI is already being used across the research process. The opportunity now is to shape how that use is governed.

Through NormativeAI, our collaborative initiative focused on integrating digital technologies for human-centered policy and practice, we are interested in practical approaches that help institutions use AI responsibly.

A new paper proposes a framework for Responsible Research with AI (RRAI) built around four principles:

Disclosure
Make AI use visible and distinguish between different types and levels of use.

Differentiation
Adapt expectations to the task, mode of AI use and career stage. This is particularly important in doctoral training, where writing, analysing, coding and questioning are part of developing research capability.

Narrative
Describe AI’s contribution accurately. AI may redistribute research tasks and increase verification work rather than simply reduce human effort.

Proportionality
Match governance requirements to risk while ensuring that compliance does not place the greatest burden on researchers and institutions with fewer resources.

Importantly, the framework moves from principles to practical measures and builds on existing foundations, including the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the OECD AI Principles.

The paper concludes that some consequences of AI-assisted research cannot be observed or managed by individual researchers alone. This creates an opportunity to design governance deliberately, including the institutional conditions, incentives and infrastructure that support responsible use.

This thinking extends beyond academia. It is relevant wherever AI is being integrated into public systems, policy and professional practice.

Reference
Castellacci F, Ciarli T, Gao Y, Marino M, Marzi G, Riccaboni M, et al. Generative artificial intelligence in scientific research: individual benefits, collective risks, and a framework for responsible research with AI. 2026

28/08/2026

AI dependency is becoming a sovereignty question.

Growing geopolitical competition over AI, compute, chips and digital infrastructure has brought questions of AI sovereignty into sharper focus. But the implications reach far beyond the major technology powers.

Governments everywhere are becoming dependent on a global AI stack.

✔️ Chips
✔️ Energy
✔️ Connectivity
✔️ Cloud and compute
✔️ Data
✔️ Models
✔️ Applications
✔️ Skills
✔️ Suppliers
✔️ Standards and governance

Few countries can, or should, try to control all of it.

So perhaps the more useful questions are:

Where do we need greater control?

Where can we accept interdependence?

Where are we becoming too dependent on a supplier, technology or country?

What capabilities do we need to make informed decisions?

Countries are answering these questions differently.

🇨🇦 Canada is investing in sovereign compute, data and infrastructure while maintaining international partnerships.

🇸🇬 Singapore has questioned whether sovereignty requires owning everything across the AI stack. Its focus is on retaining the capability to use AI on its own terms and in service of its people.

🇻🇳 Vietnam is developing more self-reliant AI capabilities, including Vietnamese language models and capacity for AI research, evaluation and deployment.

🇧🇷 Brazil is investing in infrastructure, national data, Portuguese-language models and skills. 🇦🇷 Argentina has linked frontier technology capabilities with reducing external dependencies.

🇪🇺 Europe, 🇮🇳 India and the African Union are also developing their own approaches.

There may be no single model of AI sovereignty.

For many countries, managed interdependence may be more realistic than technological independence.

But interdependence still needs to be managed.

For governments and public institutions, this becomes practical.

Where is our data stored and which laws apply? Who controls the infrastructure and models? Can we move our data and systems? Are our languages and populations adequately represented? Can we independently assess suppliers? What happens if access, prices, policies or geopolitical relationships change?

At NormativeAI, we have several practical tools in our toolbox to help partners navigate responsible AI and digital technology. One is our new Managing AI Dependency Tool:

MAP → ASSESS → DECIDE → ACT → REVIEW

It helps partners map dependencies and assess their criticality, concentration, control, replaceability and public-interest risks.

Then make informed decisions about whether to control, diversify, safeguard, build capability, or accept and monitor a dependency.

Because AI sovereignty does not have to mean owning everything.

It means retaining sufficient agency, capability and control to make informed decisions about how AI and digital technology are integrated, governed and used in the public interest.

25/08/2026

More expertise. Shared experience.

Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation is welcoming new global collaborators and expanding several technical practices.

Uptake is one of Mantis Mentor’s mission-driven collaboratives. It brings together experts and institutions to move evidence into policy and practice. It also helps us mobilize fit-for-purpose expertise around the needs and context of each partner.

Over the past few weeks, we have signed several new client agreements. These include work in North America and Africa. We also completed a research and knowledge agenda consultation for a UK-based client, focused on Southeast Asia.

New collaborators based in the USA, Nigeria, Australia and Vietnam are adding expertise across several areas.

🔵 Economic analysis & financing

We are expanding our health economics and financing capabilities. This includes costing, economic analysis, health and nutrition financing, public expenditure, resource tracking and sustainable financing. Our new Nigeria-based expertise brings extensive government experience. It also includes work with African institutions, development banks, UN organizations and research partners.

🔵 Health and nutrition information systems, research, surveys, surveillance & analytics

New expertise includes information systems, survey and surveillance design and management, data quality, early warning, statistical analysis, nutrition analytics and dashboards. An institutional collaborator adds further capacity in complex survey analysis and data systems.

🔵 S*x, gender & care

We are building out our work on s*x and gender, women’s health and nutrition, breastfeeding, maternal and child health, child rights and care. This also includes how s*x and gender are defined,measured in research, data and policy.

🔵 Communicable diseases, vaccines & immunization

New expertise brings more than three decades of experience in infectious disease control, vaccines, clinical trials, immunization systems, digital health and health systems strengthening.

🔵 Emergency nutrition, pandemics & climate change

We are expanding our capabilities in emergency preparedness and response, Nutrition Cluster coordination, infant and young child feeding in emergencies, pandemic response, surveillance and early warning. This will help us support partners facing emergencies and the increasing effects of climate change.

These areas complement Uptake’s established practices including:

🔵 Policy advocacy

🔵 Social and behavior change (SBC)

They also connect closely with NormativeAI, our related global collaborative integrating digital technology and responsible AI for policy and practice.

The new collaborators also add depth to Mantis Mentor’s strategic mentorship approach. They bring technical expertise and experience from different countries, institutions and systems. Together, they contribute to a trusted network that works alongside partners to co-create evidence-based, sustainable and locally led solutions.

22/08/2026

Help us bring Mantis Mentor’s digital presence to life.

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

We are looking for a creative web design and development partner who can help us tell a compelling story about the issues we work on, the action we take, and the people and partners behind it.

Our digital presence is developing around Mantis Mentor and our mission-driven initiatives Uptake Center for Knowledge Transfer & Innovation and NormativeAI.

We want each website to speak to its audiences and have its own character, while feeling part of something connected. As our initiatives, practices and programs develop, the approach should also make it easy to add new websites and domains.

We care more about great storytelling, thoughtful design and a strong but simple foundation than complex technology.

A few things matter to us from the beginning:

✔️ human, audience-specific communication
✔️ accessible and multilingual-ready design
✔️ privacy, security, trust, s*x and gender by design
✔️ responsible use of AI
✔️ an approach our team can maintain and afford

We welcome expressions of interest from creative studios, small teams and independent professionals anywhere in the world.

For now, keep it simple. Send us a short introduction, a few examples of work you are proud of, how you would approach this, and an indicative cost and timeline.

mantismentor.com | uptakecenter.org | normativeAI.org

EOI deadline:
14. September 2026, 23:00 ICT

Download the call for expression of interest: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mantis-mentor_call-for-expression-of-interest-ugcPost-7496927145408225280-2-z0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAAJ_iuoB2yNVSkrbx5nnw0z74VtMK70FlS4

Contact:
[email protected]

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