Social protection and gender

In an era where urbanization, climate change and recurrent infectious disease outbreaks are reshaping the public health landscape across the African continent, countries face not only increasingly complex epidemiological threats but also a critical shortage of expertise required to prevent, detect and respond to them. Yet amid these challenges lies a distinct comparative advantage: a young, technologically adept population driving innovation and digital transformation across the continent. This presents a unique opportunity to leverage digital approaches to strengthen integration across One Health sectors at both continental as well as global levels.

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the spread of infectious diseases is accelerating under the combined pressures of climate change, urbanisation, ecosystem degradation and other factors. GIZ’s One Health Data Alliance Africa (OHDAA) project, has been focusing on addressing these systemic barriers to unlock the transformational potential of data for health security in Africa and by extension, the world.

Women play a critical role in developing the digital technologies that underpin the delivery of social protection systems, but remain underrepresented and often undervalued in their field. Women working at the nexus of digital technology and social protection reflect on challenges they face and opportunities to encourage more women into tech careers.