In the wake of the COVID pandemic and global economic crisis, Africa, more so than most parts of the world, is experiencing high inflation, increased poverty levels, and large-scale unemployment, particularly among its majority youthful populations. National budgets are severely constrained by foreign debt hampering progress on key human development indicators. More than 30 African … Read more

Historically, Nigeria has faced significant health challenges, with preventable infectious diseases and rising non-communicable diseases contributing to high child and maternal mortality rates. One of the most intractable of these challenges was the continued prevalence of polio long after most countries in the world had eradicated the virus. In 2011, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate was … Read more

The Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program honored its founding Executive Director, Dr. Michael Sinclair, during the closing ceremony of the Forum for Sectoral Ministers this past September. Since its launch in 2011, Michael’s vision and leadership helped grow the Program’s scope from supporting just Health Ministers in its initial years to a broader human development focus … Read more

On September 18, 2024, the Harvard Center for International Development (CID) hosted an event in collaboration with the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program, the first event under the new Global Education and Research: Unleashing Potential (GEAR:UP) research program. The event, titled “Getting to Equity and Scale in Successful Education Programs,” brought together key education leaders from Africa, including Professor Tahir Mamman, … Read more

The annual April Harvard Ministerial Forum convened finance and economic planning Ministers from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Supported by more than a dozen long-serving former Ministers and Heads of Government, the incumbent Ministers focused on how to leverage sufficient resources to invest in stimulating sustainable economic growth at a time when a large … Read more

In April Judith Tuluka Suminwa was appointed the first female Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a move marking a significant step towards gender equity. Before her appointment as Prime Minister, Madame Suminwa served as Senior Advisor to the Minister of Budget (2012-2015), Deputy Coordinator for Administrative and Operational Issues at the … Read more

Dr. Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin has been appointed Executive Director of the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program. Lia brings a wealth of experience and demonstrated success in her leadership as the former Minister and State Minister of Health in Ethiopia, as well as in other leadership roles. She assumed her role as Minister a day after the … Read more

The recipient of the 2024 Tessa Jowell Fellowship for Doctoral Research is Ibrahima (Ibou) Dieye, a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School studying Health Policy with a focus on Health Economics. The Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program established the Tessa Jowell Fellowship to support doctoral research at Harvard focusing on policy issues of priority to … Read more

***The deadline to submit an application has been extended to February 29, 2024*** The Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program established the Tessa Jowell Student Research Fellowship providing up to $15,000 in support of doctoral or post-doctoral level research. Research must focus on health, education, or other aspects of human development impacting prospects for sustainable economic growth … Read more

The Harvard Ministerial Forum took place in September against the backdrop of two more military coup d’état – bringing the number of countries in Africa under military rule to seven – as well as popular, often violent protests across multiple African countries. Addressing the Forum, former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete said these events reflected deep-seated … Read more