One Health for HEAL
The One Health for Humans, Environment, Animals and Livelihoods (HEAL) program applies a One Health (OH) approach to enhance the well-being and resilience of vulnerable communities in pastoralist and agro-pastoralist areas of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Read moreRationale
The rationale for the HEAL program is underpinned by the very fact that opportunities for better engaging with governments on the provision of appropriate basic service for pastoral communities exist. Nonetheless, the process of building capacity and enabling environment for appropriate service provision is long and complex in any community, and is particularly difficult among pastoral people, given their levels of poverty and a policy environment that does not fully support the dynamics of their livelihood systems. Yet, until pastoral citizens develop the skills and confidence to define and defend their vision for their development and appropriate service provision, they will remain vulnerable to others’ interpretations of what is best for them.
Unique value proposition
Potential development impact
HEAL builds the capacities of vulnerable pastoralist communities, services providers and regional institutions to ensure needs-based services provision.
Bottom-up approach
HEAL brings a participatory approach to applying One Health by ensuring that vulnerable communities, service providers and governmental institutions participate in every stage of the program, from problem identification to implementing solutions and managing the end-of-program handover of responsibilities and processes. Multi stakeholder innovation platforms support communities to develop sustainable, gender-sensitive strategies for coping with threats, especially environmental threats related to climate change.
Regional approach
The mobility of pastoralist communities requires solutions that are not limited to a defined geographical area. HEAL’s regional approach covers border areas of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, offering the comparative advantage of reaching communities, regardless of their current location, who move across regional and national boundaries.
Community of Practice
A monthly web seminar series that brings together One Health practitioners from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and elsewhere to discuss One Health in the field.
A practitioner will be invited to speak for 30 minutes on a topic, share best practices and discuss challenges. The seminars are organised by the HEAL program.
Putting rangelands on the agenda:
Heal at the ESAP Conference From 18 to 20 September 2025, the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP) held its 33rd Annual Conference in Mekelle. Experts from research, policy and practice came together to discuss the future of livestock systems under increasing...
Moving towards healthy rangelands
With the power of CRHWs In pastoral regions of East Africa, livelihoods depend on healthy rangelands. When land degrades, livestock productivity drops. When livestock suffer, families lose income and food security. The HEAL project addresses this reality through a One...
Community-based One Health Insurance: Building resilient health systems in pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities
In response to severe healthcare challenges in Ethiopia's Moyale woreda of the Somali Regional State, a Community Based One Health Insurance scheme was launched in January last year. This initiative has since improved access to both human and veterinary healthcare...
Donors
Supporting Partners
