In the aftermath of Côte d’Ivoire’s civil war, the country’s health system was devastated. Infrastructure and supply chains were in ruins, many health facilities were no longer functioning, impacting health service provision at every level.  After the war was ended and democratic government restored, in 2012 newly appointed Health Minister, Dr. Raymond Goudou Coffie, was … Read more

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, again convened Finance Ministers from across Africa in-person for the 2022 Harvard Ministerial Leadership Forum. While available data suggests the COVID pandemic has had less devastating public health consequences across Africa than first anticipated, the … Read more

His Excellency Julius Maada Bio was elected President of Sierra Leone in 2018, winning 51.8% of he vote. He ran on a five-pillar platform focused on transforming the country’s economy, human development, improving governance, improving infrastructure, and overhauling financing of the public sector. Prior to being elected President, H.E. was a Senior Research Fellow at … Read more

His Excellency Julius Maada Bio called on government Ministers from across Africa to keep focus on human development even while managing the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Opening the first in-person Harvard Ministerial Forum since the start of the pandemic, President Bio told Ministers invited to the annual Forum that one of the most important … Read more

African government Ministers gathered in-person at Harvard for this first time since 2019 last September, more acutely aware than ever that their leadership skills are on the line as they strive to balance their response to the public health, social and economic repercussions of the pandemic, while still keeping focus on their main political goals. … Read more

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Kenya in early 2020, Sicily Kariuki was initially relieved the President just weeks before had switched her from leading the health ministry to take charge of water and sanitation. Her sense of relief was short-lived as she realized that hand washing, long recognized as a basic public health measure, … Read more

Today more than ever, Ministers are challenged to maintain progress in health, education and economic growth in the face of severely depleted fiscal reserves. Data is critical to guiding ministerial decision-making as they try to optimize available budget. With the help of a group of current and former Ministers, the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program last … Read more

What are the factors affecting gender equity in higher education in Zambia? Which districts should pilot a stay-in-school program for girls in Sierra Leone? What have been the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ethiopia’s essential health services? These are pressing issues that Harvard Ministerial alumni Ministers are currently facing. Over the past year, 44 … Read more

Ramping up the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa is essential not only to stemming the pandemic, but also to alleviating loss of income, increased poverty and growing food insecurity, as well as to more rapidly regenerate economic activity. Although the severity of the pandemic in Africa has seemingly not reached the same intensity as … Read more

Charles Gale, a Ph.D. candidate in the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the 2021 recipient of the Tessa Jowell Doctoral Research Fellowship.  Charles’ research will build on education reforms in Ghana by identifying measurable factors that can predict the performance of early career teachers. The Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program annually awards the Tessa … Read more