In Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa’s semi-arid Central Sahel, 1.9 million people are internally displaced due to rising conflict. This growing and dispersed population poses challenges to Burkina’s health system—each year there are only 4-5 doctors who agree to work at the village level, meaning the public health work is spread across multiple populations in various districts throughout the country. 

Meet Sidi Coulibaly, a pediatrician who’s first medical post was as a chief doctor in a village where he provided a range of services, from preventative care and curative treatment in community health to family planning, vaccination, and more. Dr. Coulibaly was one of only two doctors that worked across 30 health centers in a single health district. 

Dr. Coulibaly went on to direct DSSE (Direction des Statistiques sectorielles et de l'Évaluation) before bringing his perspective and experiences to his role as Chief of Party for USAID Advancing Nutrition Burkina Faso, working to advance public health through multi-sectoral nutrition.