In Her Words: It’s Government Accountability for Maureen Simuyandi, Chief of Party, USAID AGIS Project

Maureen Simuyandi is an international development professional with 20 years’ experience in multifaceted international development organizations financed by different donors including USAID, Global Fund, DFID and DANIDA. She has worked with different international private and not for profit non-governmental organizations such as John Snow Inc. (JSI) and Crown Agents in Central and East Africa.  She is well-versed in designing and implementing system strengthening programs, providing technical and programmatic support and public health supply chain management.

"To the young people, my advice is please be patient with yourselves. It takes time to become good at what you do and build credibility in an industry. You will eventually get there if you stay consistent."

Maureen is currently the Chief of Party for the USAID Accountable Governance for Improved Service Delivery Project (USAID/AGIS) implemented by Crown Agents USA. The project’s goal is to increase transparency and accountability in the delivery of health and education services in the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Education (MoE). Since October 2017, the project has worked closely with the MoE and MoH to profile capacity gaps in Public Financial Management (PFM), particularly in the areas of internal controls, procurement, and internal audit.  Maureen holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration & Economics from the University of Zambia and an MBA in international business from Schiller International University, London.

What drives your passion for serving in development assistance?

I wanted to work in a sector that would accord me an opportunity to do meaningful work where I could contribute towards improving the lives of people. I knew that I could contribute in improving their lives especially in the areas of health, education, economics and democracy as strengthened systems in these areas would lead to greater opportunities for them.  I have been working in this sector since February 2002, so it has been 20 years in development and I have worked on projects that have disbursed grants to the private sector to build the capacity of industries in Zambia and Malawi, worked on health supply chain projects in Kenya and Zambia and currently providing leadership to a project strengthening public finance management systems in the health and education sectors in Zambia.

What advice can offer to young people and other women considering a career in development?

Find your passion and work hard at it. You will not even notice how quickly time flies as you will be having fun while doing it. Along the way, you will come across hurdles, might sound like a cliché but stay positive and view it as an opportunity. Have a strong support system of family and trusted friends who you can rely on for constructive feedback and laugh with. It helps especially after a long day at work.

To the young people, my advice is please be patient with yourselves. It takes time to become good at what you do and build credibility in an industry. You will eventually get there if you stay consistent.

Please share a moment which reinforced your career choice.

In January 2022, the USAID AGIS successfully provided technical support and ensured that Ministry of Education staff spread throughout the country had been trained in Public Finance Management (PFM). This was to prepare them in readiness to manage the increased GRZ school grants following the abolition of school fees by the government in the 2022 budget. We held our first meeting on 14th December 2021 and by the end of the week we had come up with a plan on how we would roll out the training.

This was a mammoth task that required innovation, tenacity and a lot of coordination but by 14th January 2022, working with Ministries of Finance and Education we had trained 300 Provincial and District Education Board leaders and over 30,000 teachers in accounts, internal controls and procurement and stores management. All the teaching staff that perform PFM functions in schools have acquired sufficient skills to receive, disburse and report on the increased GRZ school grants. The Ministry of Finance disbursed the funds to all the schools once we concluded the training and schools could prepare for re-opening ten days later.