Introduction
Although women comprise over 70% of global health security workforce, they hold only about 25% of leadership roles. In Africa, young women face numerous systemic barriers such as institutional biases in hiring and promotion, gender-based discrimination, and the lack of mentorship and networking opportunities all of which hinder their advancement into leadership roles in biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. These not only restrict their professional growth but also prevent the inclusion of diverse perspectives in critical decision-making processes, undermining the effectiveness of pandemic preparedness and biosecurity governance across the continent.

The Africa Women Leadership Initiative (AWLI) is a flagship program by Nuo Bioscience to foster a resilient and inclusive Africa by addressing critical biosecurity challenges and addressing the underrepresentation of women in leadership and decision-making. AWLI will equip fellows with skills, resources, and networks needed in biosecurity and pandemic preparedness leadership thus strengthening global resilience against biothreats.

Targeting early-career women from Africa, the fellowship will offer training that blends technical foundations in biosecurity with comprehensive leadership development. The program will cover strategic decision-making, crisis management, and policy advocacy through workshops, scenario-based exercises, and leadership coaching. Each fellow will be paired with an experienced mentor from the GP Women’s Network. They will have opportunities to shadow mentors in professional settings to enhance their leadership capabilities. The fellowship will conclude with a 5-day experiential visit to Geneva during the working group meetings to strengthen the BWC. 

Vision: A resilient Africa led by empowered women addressing health and biosecurity challenges.

Mission: To strengthen biosecurity capacities while promoting gender equality, empowerment, and sustainable development.

Key Objectives
1. Strengthening biosecurity leadership – equip early career African women with technical and leadership skills to counter emerging biosecurity threats and global catastrophic biological risks (GCBRs).
2. Building robust networks – foster strategic mentorship and collaboration through regular sessions with senior leaders in the Global Partners (GP) Women’s Network, and partner with GHSA Partners, and international biosecurity networks to contribute to the pool of trainers, mentors, role modeling.
3. Driving Policy Innovation – empower fellows to generate actionable insights and policy recommendations that strengthen regional and global biosecurity frameworks, mitigating the risk of catastrophic outbreaks.
4. Promote diversity, equity and inclusion – address the systemic barriers that hinder women’s representation in biosecurity leadership.

Strategic focus areas
• Capacity building: Foster technical and leadership skills in biosecurity and health security.
• Policy advocacy: Advocate for gender-inclusive policies in biosecurity governance.
• Community engagement: Build networks and platforms for women leaders across Africa.
• Research and innovation: Support women-led research addressing biosecurity and sustainability challenges.

Proposed Activities
Cycle period – 3 months
1. Didactic training – Health security fundamentals
2. Match participants with experienced mentors – weekly meeting – 1 hour
3. Host a biweekly 1-hour webinar exploring different topics on health security
4. Conduct a project in the life cycle of the fellowship
5. One week of in-person experiential learning in Geneva, Switzerland, during the working group meeting to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention
6. Organize a networking forum

Target beneficiaries
I. Each cycle will take at least six women aged 20-45 with a background in life sciences and leadership potential in related fields
II. Participants will be selected across Africa, ensuring geographic and cultural diversity
III. Underrepresented groups or countries facing significant biosecurity challenges will be given priority

Expected outcomes
a) Enhanced Knowledge and skills in biosecurity practice among participants
b) Increased representation of women in biosecurity and health leadership roles – by engaging with cadres of health security leaders in their countries on biosecurity topics, participate in national, regional or international health security fora, conduct research on biosecurity, teach/train/mentor others,
c) A strong network of women leaders collaborating on health security issues
d) Tangible contributions to biosecurity research and policy advocacy in Africa

Partnerships and stakeholders
I. Local governments to ensure alignment with national biosecurity action plans
II. NGOs and IGOs to facilitate funding and technical support
III. Academic Institutions to provide expertise and training resources
IV. Private sector to support innovation and sustainability