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. 

One of GRID3’s programmatic goals is to strengthen countries’ capacities to use geospatial data and technologies for development interventions. GRID3 delivered an extensive training of trainers (ToT) programme in Zambia which was attended by urban planners. As a result of these trainings, planning councils look to use geospatial solutions to inform integrated development plans (IDPs).

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

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.

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.

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. 

This January saw the release of new population estimates for seven provinces in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Ituri, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Lomami, and Sud-Kivu.

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.

From 22-25 November, stakeholders in DRC participated in “Towards Digital Microplanning”, a four-day forum organised by the GRID3 Mapping for Health project, promoting innovative geospatial data and gender equity solutions that will support vaccination interventions in the country.

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.

Representatives from government ministries and departments, global health organisations, and GRID3 convened in Bo, Sierra Leone in July 2021 to review and validate the country’s master health facility list, a vital tool for planning health service delivery and interventions.

On 23 May, Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation and GRID3 signed a memorandum of understanding that formalised a partnership that has already made important progress in the country’s drive to accurately map its health facilities. 

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.

To ensure long term integration and sustainability of geospatial analytics in the country, the Government of Nigeria, under its National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), is taking over the management, hosting, and maintenance of the GRID3 Nigeria data and portal. 

The first joint meeting of the GRID3 Nigeria National Steering and Technical Committees took place on Monday, February 10th, at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja. The meeting was convened by the Chair of the Steering Committee, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, who is the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning.

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.

GRID3 facilitated coordination among all government agencies responsible for boundaries in Zambia, ensuring the production of government-endorsed administrative boundaries.

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.

Between November and December 2019, Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and National Population Commission (NPopC) became the first national statistical and population agencies to be trained on the gridded population survey sampling methodology for household survey design and implementation.

From 18 to 23 November 2019, GRID3 Nigeria joined Data Science Nigeria’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp in Lagos to train the next generation of AI experts on geospatial analytics.

The committees support Nigerian efforts to use geospatial data in the country’s continued pursuit of achieving sustainable development for everyone.