ADDIS ABABA — The Government of Ethiopia is launching phase two of a major national initiative to scale high-impact health innovations, marking a significant step toward strengthening the country’s health system and accelerating progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Results for Development (R4D) will continue supporting this work in close partnership with the Ministry of Health’s Health Systems Innovation and Quality (HSIQ) Lead Executive Office and local partner Mamela Advisors, with funding from the Gates Foundation over two years.
Phase one of this partnership (2023-2024) helped the Ministry of Health design a bold approach to scaling up health innovations as a core function of the health system. Key achievements included:
- Developing the strategic architecture for sourcing and scaling health innovation that builds on the good practices and learning of others around the world. This has helped embed innovation within ongoing health system reform processes, and has ensured a demand-led approach that enables the Ministry of Health to identify entry points where innovation can be impactful.
- Helping the HSIQ team to develop and deepen relationships with actors in the wider health innovation ecosystem (both national and global) and establish a shared language around innovation and scaling to enable more effective collaboration.
- Creating a government-led, demand-driven innovation policy that starts from system challenges, not donor project ideas.
- Developing of key platforms enabling health system actors to learn about and directly contribute to the development of homegrown innovations, including the National Innovation Lab Ethiopia (NILE) within the Ministry of Health in Addis Ababa, the National Healthcare Innovation & Quality Steering Committee (NHIQ-SC), and an annual National Healthcare Innovation and Quality Summit.
Reflecting on Phase One, Dr. Abas Hassen, Lead Executive Officer for Health Systems Innovation and Quality in the Ministry of Health noted:
“Working with the R4D team has been a pleasure throughout this partnership. We have found them to be very collaborative, responsive, and sensitive to government needs, priorities and ways of working, as well as extremely knowledgeable around innovation and scaling processes. Their support has been instrumental in the design and Ministerial adoption of our inaugural National Health System Innovation Guidelines; the creation of a demand articulation process to help identify innovation priorities across technical directorates; the establishment of a dedicated Innovation Hub within the Ministry; and our team’s engagement with the wider health innovation ecosystem at both national and global levels.”
A key component of this success has been Ethiopia’s official adoption of the Mountain Model — a six-stage framework for scaling innovations — as the backbone of its national strategy and approach for scaling public-sector innovations. The Mountain Model was developed by Results for Development and Kenya-based Insight Health Advisors for the International Development Innovation Alliance (IDIA). Today, the Mountain Model is also being used by the Ministries of Health in Kenya and Tanzania, and provided the basis of the World Health Organization’s first-ever ‘Global Call to Action for Health Innovation Scale-Up by the Public Sector’.
This foundational work has already expanded access to innovative, life-saving solutions—from infant radiant warmers and phototherapy machines produced by local manufacturers to homegrown digital tools such as locally built electronic medical record (EMR) systems. System innovations are also taking root.
Phase two of the partnership will strengthen the research–innovation–scaling pathway and address bottlenecks identified in phase one. Key areas of focus include:
- Integrating innovation decision-making processes into existing health system governance processes and structures across national, regional, district, and facility levels.
- Developing a comprehensive Innovation & Scaling Financing Strategy to enhance the efficient mobilization and deployment of capital to advance impact, including crafting Innovation Investment Cases to attract domestic and international co-financing.
- Supporting the Ministry’s various technical Executive Offices to establish a range of innovation and scaling collaborations, and mobilizing regional and international partners.
- Building an online portfolio repository and dashboard that track innovations across the health system and links performance to quality-of-care metrics.
- Designing modular, AI-enabled learning tools to enable wider capacity development around innovation and scaling across the health system workforce, and creating a cadre of Innovation Champions to lead and sustain the scaling process.
This new phase aims to strengthen Ethiopia’s innovation ecosystem and the essential scaling infrastructure that can help reduce fragmentation, elevate local solutions, and advance long-term health system transformation.
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About R4D
Results for Development (R4D) is a leading nonprofit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — supporting them as they navigate complex change processes to achieve large-scale, lasting outcomes in health, education and nutrition. We work with country leaders to diagnose challenges, co-create, innovate and implement solutions built on evidence and stakeholder input. We also support them to engage in learning to adapt, iterate and improve the efficacy of programs. At the same time, we are working to strengthen global, regional and country ecosystems that support country leaders with expertise, evidence, and innovations. R4D helps country leaders solve their immediate challenges today, while also strengthening systems and institutions to address tomorrow’s challenges. And we share what we learn so others around the world can achieve results for development too. www.R4D.org
About IDIA
IDIA is a coalition of leading development agencies founded in 2015 that has since grown under R4D’s management to become a global hub for over 400 actors from government, civil society and academia working together to advance innovation for sustainable development.
