According to the World Health Organization, only 20% of Africans were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic due to inequitable access to infrastructure as well as vaccine hesitancy. One of our partners created a vaccination network to bring together vaccination leaders and problem solvers to discuss the continent’s challenges in the vaccination space while sharing learnings with the regional and global community. The network required a skilled, flexible team to coordinate secretariat activities across the continent. 

The partner engaged Axum staff to anchor its secretariat, particularly in developing, coordinating, and supporting the implementation of the initiative’s administrative duties and activities.  
Axum staff led engagements with local governments and health ministries to nurture peer learning initiatives aimed at empowering community leadership and driving change through strategies to increase vaccine uptake. The initiative resulted in fully equipped leaders at the local and regional level, able to tailor vaccination campaigns, advocate for equitable distribution, and mobilize public and private capital to fund these efforts, as well as community-based initiatives that prompt collaboration from local voices, leaders, and health experts across the continent to date.