Senior policymakers from the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health’s (MLI’s) partner countries in Ethiopia, Mali, Nepal, Senegal and Sierra Leone jointly unveiled a global call to action for country-led development at this week's Global Health Council annual conference. The Call, entitled Country-Led Development In Health: Practical Steps Forward was both drafted and signed by four Health Ministers and one State Minister from all five MLI countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva last month. At the unveiling, each country described their successes in working with MLI’s country-driven program model as well as their desire to share their lessons more broadly. “Today,” said Mali’s Dr. Samaké, director of the Ministries of Health, Social Development, and Women’s Affairs, “there is a common platform from which we can advance.”

The Call is both a reflection on the past and a look towards the future. By outlining the factors that enabled successful MLI partnerships, Country-Led Development In Health: Practical Steps Forward will help sustain the impetus for greater country ownership, building on the foundation of the Paris Declaration for Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action. It is also in line with the philosophy of country-owned projects outlined in the U.S. Government’s Global Health Initiative’s (GHI’s) recently published Guidance for GHI Country Strategies.

The collaboration of MLI’s partner countries in crafting and disseminating the lessons in the Call reflect the supportive relationships that have emerged over the course of the program. Remarking on “the cohesion that has developed amongst these five nations,” R4D’s President, David de Ferranti, predicted that the MLI’s peer networks will help countries work together to advance country-driven development.

As MLI’s partner countries move forward with their individual reforms, the Call encourages both country governments and development partners to stay true to the country’s priorities and work together to drive change in the health sector.

To view the signing ceremony of the Call to Action, click here.
To read Aarthi Rao’s blog about the significance of the Call to Action, click here.
Click here for information on the recently published Guidance for GHI Country Strategies.

MLI is a four-year program that seeks to strengthen the leadership capacity of ministries of health in Ethiopia, Mali, Nepal, Senegal, and Sierra Leone to advance policy in three interrelated areas: health financing for equity, donor harmonization in health, and reproductive health. It is a collaborative effort between the Results for Development Institute, the Aspen Institute’s Global Health and Development, and the Council of Women World Leaders.