History of the ODI Fellowship Scheme

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Shaping policy for development

An overview of Lagoro IDP camp in Kitgum District, northern Uganda, 20 May 2007. Manoocher Deghati/IRIN

History of the ODI Fellowship Scheme

The Fellowship Scheme was established in 1963 when the first 3 Fellows were posted to the Treasury in Tanzania, the Ministry of Agriculture in Kenya and the Ugandan Development Corporation. Since then, over 900 ODI Fellowships have been awarded and the Scheme has worked in over 40 countries.

Geographical distribution of Fellowship placements - 1963 to 2009

Year of entry / Country of placement	1963-2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	Total
*Barbados (incl. CDB & CRNM)**	8	0	0	0	0	0	8
Belize	14	0	0	0	0	0	14
Botswana	74	0	0	0	0	0	74
Burundi	1	2	1	2	1	2	9
Dominica	3	0	0	0	0	0	3
Ethiopia (incl. UNECA)**	2	0	1	2	2	2	9
Fiji (incl. Regional)*	34	1	2	3	1	2	43
The Gambia	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Ghana	5	1	2	1	1	1	11
Guyana	36	2	3	1	3	3	48
Kenya (incl. EAC)	15	0	0	0	0	1	17
Lesotho	44	1	1	1	3	1	51
Liberia	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Malawi	57	3	2	2	3	3	70
Mauritius	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Montserrat	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Mozambique	33	3	4	3	3	3	50
Namibia	19	1	1	1	1	1	25
Nigeria	1	2	2	3	2	0	9
Papa New Guinea	43	3	2	1	1	3	56
Rwanda	19	3	4	3	2	2	34
St Lucia	6	0	0	0	0	0	6
St Vincent	9	0	0	0	0	0	9
Sierra Leone	3	3	2	2	0	4	14
Solomon Islands	11	2	1	2	2	1	19
South Africa	5	2	2	2	4	4	19
Southern Sudan	0	0	0	2	3	3	8
Swaziland	52	1	1	1	2	1	58
Tanzania (incl. EAC)	33	1	2	2	1	0	39
Timor Leste	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Tonga	6	0	0	0	0	0	6
Uganda	51	2	3	1	3	4	64
Vanuatu	4	0	2	1	2	1	10
Zambia	21	0	1	0	1	2	25
Zanzibar	12	1	1	2	1	3	20
Total	629	34	40	36	48	50	837

*CDB & CRNM: Caribbean Development Bank and Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery
**UNECA - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
*** Pacific Regional: South Pacifi c Applied Geoscience Commission, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Secretariat of the Pacific Community
****EAC - East African Community

Fellowship Scheme 40th Anniversary Party
The Fellowship Scheme held a reception at the House of Commons to mark its fortieth anniversary in 2003 and several high-profile ex-Fellows made speeches about their experiences of the Fellowship Scheme.

The ODI Fellowship Scheme: The Future of Technical Cooperation?
Introduction by Adrian Hewitt, July 2003
Dr Vincent Cable MP - Kenya
Dr. Martin Weale - Malawi
Professor Anne Mills - Malawi
Professor Peter Davies - Swaziland
Romilly Greenhill - Uganda
Sir Andrew Turnbull - Zambia
Suma Chakrabarti - Botswana

Contact Fellowship Scheme

ODI Fellowship Scheme
Overseas Development Institute
203 Blackfriars Road
London SE1 8NJ
Tel: +44 (0)207 922 0356
Fax: +44 (0)20 7922 0399
fellows@odi.org.uk

Booklet

This booklet provides Information on objectives of ODI Fellowship Scheme, career prospects, entrance requirements as well as the recruitment and selection process.

Alumni experiences

Sara Nyman - Ministry of Trade and Industry, Malawi

Being an integral part of a government ministry puts an ODI Fellow in a unique position. The ministry and its staff become your professional support network and your knowledge base; and, in turn, you become theirs. The learning curve is steep and, as I write nine months into my posting, mine has not yet shown any signs of relenting.

Kabira Namit - Ghana Education Service

After nearly two years here, I can safely say that there is nothing like a typical day at the Ghana Education Service! I’m part of a four-member team that works on the $1.8 billion Ghana Education Budget. We allocate government and donor resources across the country for the running costs of schools and infrastructure projects. There are opportunities to travel across the country on official trips, interacting with the regional budget officers and visiting schools to monitor new projects.

Anisa Berdellima - Ministry of Health, Burundi

My Fellowship as a health economist at the Ministry of Health in Burundi is allowing me to use my passion, skills and dedication to improve public health. I work on important policy areas that affect the lives of millions of people. For example, we helped to design and are implementing a national health insurance scheme that will provide free access to health services to the most vulnerable people.