Since 2020, Marie Ba has served as the Director of the Ouagadougou Partnership (OP) Coordination Unit and as a leading advocate and actor for women and families in the region. As Director, Marie leads collaboration and coordination among the OP’s stakeholders, including the Ministries of Health in the OP’s nine member countries, civil society organizations and other implementing partners, and major international donors for reproductive health, which collectively contribute over $150 million per year to advance reproductive health options and outcomes in the region. Marie leads dialogue, advocacy, and activities between partners at the global, regional, and country levels, and helps to align support to countries’ reproductive health priorities defined by the Ministries of Health. Marie and her team are also especially passionate advocates for youth involvement and leadership in countries’ and partners’ decision-making, including on reproductive health policies and programs, and have provided training, employment, and direct support for youth leaders in reproductive health.
Marie Ba has worked in health and development in West and Central Africa for fifteen years managing programs and projects for leading global philanthropies and international NGOs. She has based her work from Washington, D.C. and from Senegal, focusing her attention first on providing technical assistance to projects in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, and more recently on efforts to improve lives of women and families in the nine member countries of the Ouagadougou Partnership. Throughout her work, Marie has concentrated on building partnerships between government, civil society, and philanthropic actors, and has led development and implementation of crucial aspects of successful health partnerships, including communications and advocacy strategies, financial planning and management, and grants and contracts compliance, on top of field-leading program management.
Marie Ba holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social & Behavioral Sciences from the University of Maryland-College Park and a Master’s Degree in International Development and Peace / Conflict Resolution from the American University in Washington, D.C.
