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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

Enumeration for South Sudan’s Population Estimation Survey (PES) has been completed, marking the end of the single largest data collection effort in the country’s history.