“What motivates you to work for the Ministry of Health?” This was a question posed to seven promising leaders working within the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health’s (MLI) partner health ministries in Ethiopia, Mali, Nepal, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

The interviews were part of a series from from MLI's Learning Collaborative Forum in Ethiopia in November 2010 with leaders in the MLI countries about what has motivated them in their work.

Motivators profiled in the series include, Khadka Bahadur Basyal Sarki is Nepal’s State Minister in the Ministry of Health and Population; Amara Koroma, director of financial services, and Dr. Samuel A.S. Kargbo, director of reproductive health in Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and Sanitation; ;Dr. Aminata Kanu, MLI country lead, Sierra Leone.; Dr. Bocar Mamadou Daff, director of reproductive health in Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Prevention.

In the interview series, their answers emerge as highly personal accounts of why high-ranking Ministry of Health officials are committed to their jobs in the face of many challenges and few rewards. The interviews are available through the“Motivators” blog series on the MLI website. The policy leaders interviewed express feelings of national pride and describe personal accounts of family members fighting life-threatening illnesses and overcoming them with proper health care. These policy leaders also candidly discuss their past, hopes for the future and their strategies for motivating others.

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 Results for Development Institute, the Aspen Institute’s Global Health and Development, and the Council of Women World Leaders.