Who We Are: SSDS and Its Staff

Margaret K. Saunders, B.A., M.Sc., M.A.

Ms. Saunders has more than twenty years of experience in assessing health policies and programs in developing countries, and advising on strategic planning and management to improve sustainability. She has written strategy papers, analytical program reviews, and case studies, with particular focus on addressing the needs of vulnerable women and children. In a number of the positions she held during more than 15 years with the World Bank, she designed and directed learning programs for senior policymakers and program managers on reproductive health issues such as: improving access to services for youth; maternal health and family planning program design, management, and sustainability, including collaboration with NGOs; HIV/AIDS prevention policies and programs. She has also worked extensively on issues of health reform, health economics and financing, and pharmaceuticals. She has strengthened MCH programs to improve integrated attention to child health, nutrition, education, and development, primarily in Latin America and Africa.

Ms. Saunders is primarily interested in writing on health policy issues, with particular attention to analyzing and synthesizing lessons from research and program experience for decision makers. She is currently working on SSDS contracts with the World Bank and the USAID PHRplus project including: a series of policy briefs on the critical role of health as a contributing factor to development and economic growth; a policy brief on the impact of health system strengthening on maternal-child health services; a case study on the piloting of community-based health insurance programs; a technical brief and a toolkit on improving the integration of nutrition and early childhood development; and a synthesis of findings from new research on gender and education in Latin America. She designed and managed a major international technical conference on achieving the Millennium Development Goals, with a focus on improving health systems performance and health outcomes in Latin America . She is editing a collection of papers from the conference.

Ms. Saunders has an MSc in Social Planning from the London School of Economics and an MA in Education from Harvard University . She speaks Spanish and French. Ms. Saunders has worked in Latin America (Mexico, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina); Africa (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mauritius); North Africa (Morocco); and Asia (Bangladesh).

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