In this brief, we introduce six governance behaviours, to foster effective public-private engagement, as part of more resilient and responsive health systems. The governance behaviours were conceptualised as part of the WHO strategy “Engaging the private health service delivery sector through governance in mixed health systems”. Launched in 2020, this strategy contributes a specific focus on the private sector as part of health systems governance and systems strengthening. Government sets the lead as steward of all health system entities, both public and private.