Emile Sempabwa, Policy and Development Technical Director

Emile Sempabwa, Policy and Development Technical Director

“I made a decision 30 years ago to serve people in my country through public health,” says Emile Sempabwa, director of policy and development for an IntraHealth project in Rwanda. “I had always wanted to serve the population in the area of prevention, and that’s how I ended up working in reproductive health and family planning.”

Working with the Expanding Rwanda’s Commitment to the Population, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health Program, Emile focuses on helping build a government policy environment that supports family planning. One of the reasons Emile loves his job is because he gets to work on health improvement at both the ground level and policy level: “I get to spend time with people in the community, including nurses and physicians,” he explains, “but I am also involved with the decision-making process at the ministry and government levels, and I get to talk with international partners.”

Emile started collaborating with IntraHealth in 1987, when he was working for the Ministry of Health in Burundi. He officially joined IntraHealth in 2000. “IntraHealth’s focus on improving both the skills of health workers and their ability to develop a better health system was a key factor in my decision to join the organization.”

It’s this type of approach in which Emile takes the most pride, he says, citing how IntraHealth played a role in assisting Rwanda’s government to decentralize health care—ensuring that staff at the district- and health facility-level had the best skills to plan, budget, and manage resources and services. “It changed the country from top to bottom, and this approach quickly received the buy-in of authorities.”

Emile says his goal remains improving the health and well-being of the people of Rwanda—a goal he feels IntraHealth is helping him reach. Now that he’s worked with IntraHealth for so long, Emile says, “My life and the life of the organization have become intertwined. In a way, IntraHealth has become a second home—it’s like a family to me.”