About MLI

The Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health (MLI) works with ministries of health in Ethiopia, Mali, Nepal, Senegal, and Sierra Leone to advance country-led development in three inter-related policy areas: health financing to ensure sustainable health care for all; donor alignment to ensure that donors work together to support country priorities; and reproductive health because the health of women is central to the health and stability of communities and nations. MLI, a program of Aspen Global Health and Development at the Aspen Institute, works in partnership with the Results for Development Institute. MLI, a four year program initiated in 2008, is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

MLI’s support focuses on enhancing ministerial leadership capacities and skills in such areas as:

• Building skills to foster policy reform both within health ministries and between other government entities
• Improving systems for accountability to ensure that policies are effectively implemented
• Strengthening negotiation skills to advance country priorities
• Improving ministry and government organizational management and governance processes
• Translating evidence into advocacy to advance policy reform
• Enhancing communications skills to help ministry leaders more effectively express their challenges and progress to national stakeholders and global audiences
• Increasing the visibility of reproductive health and health financing issues by placing high profile stories describing the work of ministries of health, and their challenges and successes, in international media outlets

Photo Credit Dominic Chavez

Some examples of MLI’s work include: assisting Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health to implement a strategic planning and accountability system called Balanced Scorecard; helping Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation improve its financial management, donor coordination, and communications to more effectively tell their story of health reform to national and global audiences; training leaders in Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population to become stronger negotiators with development partners so they can more clearly and confidently address their priorities; supporting Mali’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Development to launch national health financing reforms, including the scale up of community-based health insurance or “mutuelles”; and assisting Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Prevention to sign the International Health Partnership (IHP+) Compact, expand performance based financing mechanisms, and strengthen the institutional capacity of the reproductive health division to accelerate progress towards achieving MDG 5.