Baroness Valerie Amos, Director of School of Oriental & African Studies at the University of London, has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program. Valerie Amos served as Secretary of State for International Development in the administration of UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair.  In 1997, she was elevated to the British House of Lords and appointed Leader in 2003.  Between 2009 and 2010, she served as UK High Commissioner to Australia.  In 2010, Baroness Amos was appointed the eighth United Nations Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. She has also held numerous other public sector roles including Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission and adviser to the Mandela Government on leadership and change management issues. Baroness Amos is co-founder and Patron of the Amos Bursary, which promotes higher education opportunities for young men of African and Caribbean heritage in the UK.

Read more

In January 2019, 40 students from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) worked in seven countries across Africa in support of health and education ministers in those countries who are part of the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program. Students were charged with in-country policy-focused research to help inform implementation of the Ministers’ priority policy goals developed during their time at Harvard in June 2018. In March, participating students provided an in-person report-back to Chan School Dean Michelle Williams and HGSE Dean Bridget Long.

Through presentations and posters, students shared the results of their research, which included developing a tool for teachers’ performance evaluation in Côte D’Ivoire, exploring the feasibility of mobilizing more resources from universal health insurance premiums in Kenya, conducting a landscape analysis of existing health centers in Lesotho, and making recommendations for how to increase student enrollment in technical and vocational education and training in Mauritius. In addition to briefing Dean Williams and Long on the substance of their policy research, students attested to the unique experiential value of working directly with high-level government officials and contributing to priority issues these governments are dealing with.

Read more

Current and former finance and economic planning ministers from 20 countries participated in the seventh annual Harvard Ministerial Forum at Harvard last week. A key focus of the Forum was groundbreaking new research from David Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, correlating economic returns from human development investments. [link to David’s paper] Bloom found that highest returns result from reductions in fertility; increased life span resulting from better health care and more healthy living; and increased educational attainment.

Participating ministers were challenged to consider whether their current budget spending is building a foundation for sustainable economic growth. For example, health and education account for the largest part of most countries’ budgets, but in many developing countries health and education outcomes are poor. One result is substantial and growing numbers of unemployed young people. Another is population increase continuing to outpace GDP growth. Ministers mapped a human development pathway for each of their countries focusing on the key human development building blocks with highest long-term economic benefits such as early childhood nutrition and educational development, better quality primary school education, access to comprehensive reproductive health services, and strengthening primary health care.

Read more