Desire

Boko

Chief of Party, PMI VectorLink Project, Mali

Desire A. Boko is a primary care provider with more than 28 years of experience in the health domain, including a extensive work in health system strengthening as implemented in U.S. government-funded projects. He has served as chief of party (COP) in fragile states settings in an environment of crisis and insecurity. He currently serves as the for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) VectorLink project in Mali. He provides technical leadership and managerial oversight in the implementation of project strategy for areas including health financing, health sector reform, human resources, and decentralization.

As COP of the PMI VectorLink Project, Boko works with the Mali Ministry of Health (MOH), National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs), regional and district health offices, environmental protection agency, local non-governmental organizations, and business and community leaders. His goal is to ensure that government, the private sector, and communities can sustain and lead future indoor residual spraying (IRS) and other malaria vector-control programs to reduce malaria-associated morbidity and mortality. His responsibilities include:

Providing strategic direction, operations management, technical leadership, and financial and administrative compliance for all project activities to ensure IRS campaigns meet desired outcomes and finish on time and within budget
Managing a staff of 21 persons
Coordinating creation and implementation of the capacity-development plan for transferring IRS knowledge and to local institutions to ensure IRS sustainability

Before assuming his current post, Boko he served as COP in Haiti for Health Finance and Governance (HFG), a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded project to support the MOH in health system strengthening. He served as COP for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation-funded Haiti IRS project. Before working in Haiti, Boko served in a variety of capacities in Côte d’Ivoire. As COP, he managed a multidisciplinary team under three consecutive USAID-funded projects: Health System 20/20, Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector, and HFG. He served as a program officer for the Global Fund Project for the United Nations Development Program and as a humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations Population Fund. As a doctor in Cote d’Ivoire, he worked with AIDS patients and was a regional coordinator for the National AIDS Control Program.

Expertise:

health financing
health sector reform
human resources
decentralization
Malaria vector control

Key Projects:

PMI VectorLink
Haiti Indoor Residual Spraying
Health Finance and Governance (Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire)
Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector
Health Systems 20/20

Publications:

Barnes, Jeffrey, Désiré Boko, Mamadou Koné, Alphonse Kouakou, Thierry Uwamahoro, James White. May 2013. Ivory Coast Private Health Sector Assessment. Bethesda, MD: Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Project, Abt Associates Inc.
Laurel Hatt, Christine Ortiz, Désiré A. Boko, Stephen Musau, Beatriz Zurita, Sika Lazare, Gilbert Kombe, October 2008, estimating the Costs of Providing HIV/AIDS Services in Public Health Facilities in Côte d’Ivoire, Bethesda, MD, the Health Systems 20/20 Project, Abt Associates Inc.
Appui au Renforcement du Système de Santé: Quels impacts sur l’amélioration de la sécurité des patients et la gestion des risques en milieu de soins? (Presented at the MOH workshop on patients’ safety organized in Abidjan, November 10th, 2009)
VCT, PMTCT, and ARVT… a complementary package: the experience of Côte d’Ivoire published at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, August 13th-18th, 2006
Le Fonds Mondial de lutte contre le SIDA, la Tuberculose et le Paludisme : la mise en œuvre en Côte d’Ivoire (Presented at the Côte d’Ivoire Scientific Days meetings for the HIV/Aids XVIII Mondial Campaign, January 18th to 20th, 2005)