Sara Nyman - Ministry of Trade and Industry – Private Sector Development, Malawi
Kabira Namit - Ghana Education Service
Anisa Berdellima - Ministry of Health, Burundi

Sara Nyman - Ministry of Trade and Industry – Private Sector Development, 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. We have conducted a survey of Malawi’s financial institutions on their lending to small and medium enterprises, which will expand the government’s knowledge base, facilitate the sharing of information between the financial sector and the government and, ultimately, help inform policy-making.

The need for information sharing is not just internal. Encouraging dialogue between the public sector and private sector, as well as improving inter-ministerial coordination, has been a key theme of my work. I am involved in establishing a Sector Wide Approach for Trade, Industry and Private Sector Development – an exciting initiative that could improve dialogue between players across the entire sector and promote a more coordinated approach.

In short, encouraging collaboration, sharing and learning is an aspect of an ODI Fellow’s role that can complement and guide its technical side. Indeed, it may be a crucial step towards making a truly sustainable impact.

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. I spend much of my time with Planning and Statistics Officers from all the districts of Ghana – training them in basic forecasting methods, helping them allocate their resources more effectively by analysing the Annual Education Census database and designing Annual Operational Plans.

The Ghana Education Service is always receptive to new ideas – our recommendations on the scope for efficiency savings in our budgetary process were fully accepted and we were able to reduce the time spent working on the budget by approximately five weeks.

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.

At the same time, I am part of a team conducting a study of national hospitals that will allow us to understand the key problems they face and develop a set of policy options to improve their financial management and the quality of care they provide. I also coordinate the Groupe Thématique du Financement, which brings together all the financial and technical donors to improve aid coordination and efficiency. Nowhere else can anyone have a more direct impact on the lives of people than by working at the heart of government, implementing policies that can bring about change. As an ODI Fellow you are a key part of that change.