Management Sciences for Health Partners with the Government of Rwanda and USAID to Strengthen Health Systems through Sustainable Financing, Leadership Development, and Health Workforce Management

Arlington, VA—July 18, 2023— Management Sciences for Health (MSH) announced today the launch of a new partnership with USAID and the Government of Rwanda to strengthen the country’s health systems. The partnership will improve the resilience of the Rwandan health system through increasing financing and ensuring those resources are used efficiently; strengthening leadership, management, and governance; and improving health workforce management. The project is known as USAID Ireme. 

An all-Rwandan, women-led, gender-diverse leadership team will bring their complementary experience and skills to achieve the project’s expected results. Dr. Anita Asiimwe, a leader in Rwanda’s health sector, will serve as Chief of Party. Two local partner organizations—HISP Rwanda and CIIC-HIN—and Dutch NGO PharmAccess Foundation are leading several of the project’s key workstreams.  

“We look forward to working with our Rwandan colleagues as they build their country’s health resilience,” said Marian W. Wentworth, President and CEO of MSH. “MSH’s approach centers on local ownership from the outset, supporting the Rwandan Government and health sector stakeholders as they define their own priorities; co-designing innovative solutions; and developing the institutions and capacities needed to implement, adapt, and maintain them.” 

The launch of this project renews a longstanding relationship between MSH and the Government of Rwanda. In addition to the currently active USAID Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program, MSH has previously partnered with USAID on two successive health systems strengthening projects in Rwanda and helped to institutionalize many of the programs and health institutions that have contributed to the country’s extraordinary progress. 

Rwanda’s improvements in health and wellbeing have made it a model for development in Africa. Still, significant barriers remain to achieve the Vision 2050 goals that Rwanda has set, envisioning Rwanda as a high-income country whose people enjoy universal access to equitable, high-quality health care.  

USAID Ireme will work toward those goals by building a pool of inspiring leaders and effective managers across Rwanda’s health system, fostering accountability through citizen engagement and effective governance, integrating data systems for better evidence-based decision making, and developing the sustainable capacities of management teams to optimize allocation and use of financial and human resources. 

MSH is a recognized leader with more than 50 years of experience helping low- and middle-income countries develop strong leadership, management, and governance practices, leading to stronger systems that are better able to design and scale local innovations, deliver responsive quality care, meet ambitious health goals, and sustain health systems improvements.