In collaboration with Mozambique’s ministry of health (MoH), Expanded Programme on Immunization, and National Agency for Spatial Development, GRID3 and ICAP convened a map template transfer workshop in Maputo between 18 and 20 April 2023. 

In Nigeria, the need to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates in areas with low vaccine uptake was a key priority for the country’s government. Learn how GRID3 geospatial data supported these vaccination efforts.

Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation and its Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) embarked on a campaign with Clinton Health Access Initiative, Gavi, GRID3, and WHO to administer HPV vaccines to ten-year-old girls throughout the country.

Geospatial analyses and GIS-based microplanning maps to aid the deployment of vaccination resources in Mozambique. 

Burkina Faso’s government has been working with GRID3 to understand how geospatial data can inform COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

Over 65 percent of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) live more than 5 kilometres from a health facility, compromising their ability to access timely healthcare. DRC’s National Program for the Elimination of Cholera and the Control of Other Diarrheal Diseases partnered with GRID3 and the Clinton Health Access Initiative to use GRID3 geospatial data to gain a better understanding of access to healthcare within communities.

To support the National Malaria Elimination Programme with digital microplanning for an upcoming malaria bednet distribution campaign in Kano state, Nigeria, GRID3 produced 484 microplanning maps.

The GRID3 Mapping for Health project has reached a major milestone in its 19-month effort to support vaccination interventions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Sierra Leone’s Directorate of Policy Planning and Information, under the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, is working with GRID3 to map settlements where newly trained community health workers will be stationed. The deployment of these workers is part of Sierra Leone’s extended community health policy programme which aims to deliver preventive, promotive, and basic curative services.

GRID3 has begun supporting the WHO with the coordination and implementation of the Geolocated Health Facilities Data (GHFD) initiative in the Africa Region. Currently, the GFHD is supporting the production of needs assessments and work plans relating to countries’ health facility master lists.

Dans le cadre du projet GRID3 Cartographie pour la santé, cinq nouveaux jeux de données GRID3 (localités, limites des aires et des zones de santé, établissements de santé, écoles et centres religieux) ont été publiés pour les provinces du Haut-Katanga, Kinshasa, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Kinshasa et Lomami en République démocratique du Congo (RDC).

As part of the GRID3 Mapping for Health project, five new GRID3 datasets have been published for the provinces of Haut-Katanga, Kinshasa, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Kinshasa, and Lomami in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). These datasets, along with basemaps, will be included in the DRC’s national health database and, together with GRID3 DRC population estimates, can inform planning, delivery and surveillance of health interventions.

The Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI), under Zambia’s Ministry of Health, and GRID3 have been organising and facilitating district-level microplanning workshops. The first round of workshops were held in all of Zambia’s 10 provinces and over 2,700 health officials were trained on how to incorporate GRID3 maps into their COVID-19 vaccination microplans. 

GRID3 has considerable experience with harnessing innovative geospatial solutions to reduce malaria’s effect on the region, and has recently extended its support to two campaigns in Nigeria and the DRC.

Demand for accurate spatial data across sub-Saharan Africa is rising as governments formulate vaccination campaigns. In recent months, Zambia and Nigeria have requested support from GRID3 in creating and rolling out maps and spatial data technologies to aid these interventions.

For microplanning ahead of the 2021 indoor residual spraying campaign led by Zambia’s National Malaria Elimination Programme, GRID3 and Akros developed improved maps featuring field-mapped health facility catchment boundaries and updated residential structure counts using GRID3 settlement extents. 

As part of a broader push to strengthen the capacity of health actors to use geo-referenced data to improve immunisation outcomes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, GRID3 carried out extensive stakeholder engagement and field exercises aimed at evaluating the impact of the pilot phase of its geo-referenced microplanning work over the course of the last three months.

In recent months, a consortium of governmental and international bodies initiated the latest round of the multi-sector Food Security and Nutrition Monitoring System (FSNMS+) survey in South Sudan. The survey uses GRID3 population estimates to calculate population per enumeration area.

What are the most effective ways to map health facilities? Or the benefits of classifying settlements? How do government officials cooperatively produce accurate subnational boundaries? To answer these and many other pressing data for development questions, GRID3 is producing a series of resources that provide a wealth of insights into some of its core geospatial data solutions.

Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency has partnered with GRID3 to improve microplanning for its Non-Polio Supplementary Immunisation Activities campaign. The agency is using 9,308 ward-level maps produced by GRID3 to prepare microplans ahead of the next campaign, set to start in November 2021.

In June 2021, the government of Sierra Leone released its new School Infrastructure and Catchment Area Planning policy. Laying the foundation for increased access to safe, quality education, the document draws extensively upon insights from the GRID3 Education Coverage in Sierra Leone report. The policy was also informed by additional school catchment mapping conducted by GRID3 in collaboration with Fab Inc.

GRID3 created 133 maps showcasing how far people live from health facilities and the size of those populations for all districts (called woredas) in the Somali and Afar regions. Amref Health Africa will be using the maps to identify where mobile health/outreach services are most needed.

In collaboration with MBSSE, the GRID3 team at Flowminder carried out an analysis using GIS and its optimisation algorithm to improve radio coverage and enhance education access during disease outbreaks.

When it comes to geospatial data, accessibility is just as crucial as quality. While it is important to produce comprehensive spatial information that can be used to guide sustainable planning and decision making, equal attention must be paid to ensuring that such data is easily accessible for GIS practitioners, humanitarians, researchers, and governments. With this in mind, GRID3 has launched its Data Hub. 

As DRC has one of the highest rates of maternal, child, and infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, one aspect of the GRID3 M4H project focuses on the integration of gender and social inclusion (GESI) into vaccination programmes. This work achieved a milestone in May with the organisation of a roundtable focused on the intersection of gender and vaccination.

On 22 November 2020, Tropical Cyclone Gati made landfall on the Puntland State of Somalia’s coast. Drawing on new skills and techniques acquired during a series of GRID3 capacity strengthening sessions, the Puntland Statistics Department used geospatial data to effectively coordinate the state’s disaster response. 

To plan and implement efficient COVID-19 immunisation campaigns, Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) joined forces with GRID3 Nigeria to support COVID-19 vaccine delivery and access strategies across the country.

Using risk data provided by GRID3 in collaboration with Fraym, DMI was able to refine a Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategy which included running a radio campaigns for specific districts with the aim of addressing barriers to the uptake of contraceptives, such as misconceptions about their safety, low support from men, and stigmatisation of young people accessing contraceptives.

The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) in Sierra Leone and GRID3 jointly released a School Coverage Analysis in Sierra Leone report which identifies where children are located relative to schools based on national targets.

The Government of Nigeria collaborated with researchers from the United Kingdom’s University College London (UCL) to study, using GRID3 Nigeria’s gridded population estimates, the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus causing the COVID-19 disease — across Nigeria.

Accurate and accessible geospatial data plays a pivotal role in district planning for Zimba District, Zambia, where planners are trying to facilitate development. Through an interview with Josephine Chiila, District Planning Officer in Zimba, we learn how GRID3 population, settlement and infrastructure data are being used to identify service provision gaps and inform future development decisions.

Under the leadership of the Government of Namibia, GRID3 has launched another COVID-19 data hub in sub-Saharan Africa, expanding the access to much needed reliable and timely geospatial data to fight and prevent the global pandemic on the continent.

Despite falling COVID-19 cases around the world, countries still need accurate information on people and resources to continue slowing the spread of the virus. In Zambia, the International Organization for Migration is using GRID3 data to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the country’s migrant population.

Nigeria celebrates being wild polio free following an official declaration by the African Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), an independent advisory body of the World Health Organisation, for the eradication of poliomyelitis (WPV). This step marks a landmark victory for a country that had been battling the virus for decades.

GRID3 Zambia partnered with Akros, National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), PATH and President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) to create maps as a low-cost solution that can contribute significantly to controlling malaria in the country. The maps display GRID3 population estimates, settlement extents with estimated residential structure counts, schools, health facilities and village names. These datasets were developed with multiple Zambian government agencies.

Sierra Leone’s government is reacting fast and in innovative ways to ensure the safety of its citizens. Together with Esri, Fraym, GPSDD, Maxar and UNECA, the government produced crucial geospatial datasets, analyses, and tools to support the COVID-19 response in Sierra Leone.

The new GRID3 interactive data visualisation hubs provide a vital, centralised source of high quality geospatial data. They enhance coordination on data production, and encourage closer coordination among the various government bodies that are working on COVID-19 prevention and response.

The quick and effective reaction of the Government of Nigeria is underpinned by a National COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Pandemic Response Plan. GRID3 Nigeria has been working closely with the Presidential Task Force to swiftly support the government’s efforts and integrate geospatial data solutions into their plans.

On 16 April 2020, an earthquake with a 4.5 magnitude and depth of 10km struck the Luapula Province in Zambia. The GRID3 Zambia team produced high resolution maps, showcasing the number of people potentially at risk based on their location in relation to the epicentre of the earthquake.

As the outbreak of the new coronavirus begins to extend into sub-Saharan Africa, GRID3 is marshalling its data resources and capacities to help partner governments plan rapid, effective responses.

GRID3 and the team working on the Mapping for Health project hosted a three-day workshop in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with health sector stakeholders from the entire Kwilu Province. The aim of the workshop was to make progress toward incorporating geospatial data into immunisation microplanning in DRC.

GRID3 produced 121 maps of health zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to support a six-month rapid-response measles vaccination campaign.

In December 2019, GRID3 together with in-country partners in DRC, carried out a series of field tests in a range of urban and rural contexts to assess the suitability of a semi-automated approach to create pre-Enumeration Area boundaries.

To support Nigeria’s Universal Basic Educational Commission (UBEC) in improving access to education, GRID3 Nigeria used geospatial data to analyse the location of current schools to Nigeria’s school-age population and recommend new school locations.

To understand measles vaccination coverage, the GRID3 Nigeria team, following a request from the PCCS working group, analysed data produced from the PCCS survey in February 2019. The team also compared results from their analyses to previous PCCS coverage estimates using the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey and the 2016-17 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey / National Immunisation Coverage Survey.

In an effort to understand the true extent of vaccine-preventable deaths, the GRID3 Mapping for Health team in close coordination with DRC’s Ministry of Health utilised a participatory mapping approach to map settlements, health facilities and delineate health area boundaries. This information is crucial to developing vaccination strategies and assembling the appropriate resources required for targeted interventions.

To inform the Nigerian National Surgical, Obstetrics, Anesthesia and Nursing Plan developed by the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria, GRID3 mapped health facilities in Nigeria as well as visualised the surgical workforce in relation to population at the subnational level.

The Nigerian Universal Basic Educational Commission (UBEC) and GRID3 Nigeria are working together to apply new geospatial data to achieve the desired impact of education for all Nigerians and reduce the rate of out-of-school children in the country.

GRID3 Nigeria was invited to the Nigeria Governors Forum in December 2019 to garner support from state governments on using spatial data solutions to inform planning and implementation of development and policy interventions across the states.