Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Programme

The Fellowship supports aspirational public health leaders in Africa to acquire advanced skills to strategize, manage and lead public health programmes that will transform public health on the continent. Fellows admitted will lead and contribute to the implementation of the Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda and the new public health order for Africa and help shape the next generation of leaders.

Since its launch, the fellowship has graduated 84 Fellows from over 34 African countries, with many now leading transformative initiatives, authoring books, creating cross-border partnerships, and one even serving as a Minister of Government.

Who Should Apply?

Senior public health professionals from AU Member States with backgrounds in One Health, human medicine, sexual & reproductive health, public mental health, animal health, finance, health policy, epidemiology, and related fields.

Eligibility Criteria

• Citizen of an African Union Member State.
• Postgraduate degree in a public health related field.
• 10+ years professional experience after Master’s degree.
• Full-time employment in a public or private health institution.
• Demonstrated or potential leadership capacity.

Fellowship Selection

Selection is conducted by an independent committee of experts from the African Union Commission, Africa CDC, and global partners. The process upholds equal opportunity principles to ensure representation of women and underrepresented groups.

What is included?

The Fellowship will support one year of high-level professional development in public health leadership that includes skills in health diplomacy, change man- agement and influencing policy, among others. Fellows will be supported by experienced experts in key fields from Africa and other parts of the world.

At the end of the programme, Fellows would have de- veloped core competencies in the following areas:

• Superior skills in negotiation, health policy, partnerships, and health diplomacy, given the unique position of Africa CDC as a technical institution of the African Union.
• Enhanced ability to frame
• and develop a viable strategic vision for ambitious yet attain- able goals for health outcomes.
• Improved ability to influence and empower others to achieve go-getting, multidimensional health goals.
• Enhanced skills in effective communication and managing different media platforms to get vital messages across a range of agencies and contexts.
• Learning with, and from, public health leaders from around the world, enhancing personal and professional global networks.
• Strong knowledge of the key aspects of global public health history and princi- ples; in particular, those relat- ing to major political, economic, and social aspects of public health in Africa.
• Improved ability to analyse the social, economic and political factors influencing the financing of healthcare and economic security.
• Deeper insight into personal leadership and career goals, and enhanced resilience, flexi- bility and efficiency.