ICARS participates in two Sustainable Impact Workshops in Ghana and Kenya

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a One Health challenge, spanning human and animal health as well as the environment. Given the severity and complexity of the issue, ensuring the sustainability and long-term impact of supported AMR interventions is essential to reducing its widespread consequences. The Sustainable Impact Resource Guide and Toolkit has been developed in recognition of this challenge. 

In October 2025, ICARS delegates visited Ghana and Kenya to support the One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI) and their partners Ducit Blue and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) in the facilitation of two workshops. Both sessions piloted the Sustainable Impact Resource Guide and Toolkit, including the 11 tools designed for use by project teams.   

About the Sustainable Impact Resource Guide and Toolkit 

The workshops tested the Sustainable Impact Resource Guide and Toolkit, a comprehensive resource that defines sustainable impact in the context of AMR solutions and offers methodologies for achieving and measuring impact across the One Health spectrum.  

The guide was developed in partnership with the One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI), in collaboration with the Ducit Blue Foundation and researchers from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana and Bayero University in Nigeria, with funding from Wellcome Trust.  

The first draft of the toolkit was completed in September 2025. The two workshops aimed to understand how the tools function in practice and to gather insights for the second draft.  

During both sessions, participants worked in groups led by OHDI/DBF staff to test the tools using their project knowledge, experiences, and findings so far. 

Sustainable Impact Workshop: Kenya 

From 15-16 October, ICARS delegates participated in and helped to facilitate a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. During the workshop, participants used the toolkit to assess the sustainability of the Kenya human health project on SAP and AMS interventions aimed at optimizing SAP practices and management of surgical site infections in three counties. The participants offered detailed practical feedback for improving the tools, including suggestions to streamline them and make them more intuitive, action-oriented and user-friendly.  

Sustainable Impact Workshop: Ghana 

From 23rd October, ICARS  joined a two-day workshop in Accra, Ghana. Participants applied the toolkit to the Ghana IPC/SAP project, which aims to identify challenges with antibiotic use and implement evidence-based interventions to reduce SSIs and optimise antibiotic use in surgical services.  

Through the tools, the participants identified sustainability strategies already embedded within the project, and highlighted additional activities that could strengthen long-term impact.  

Next steps 

Following both workshops, OHDI and their collaborators will integrate the feedback gathered into the next revision of the toolkit, with continued support from ICARS. In the year ahead, additional input will be gathered from ICARS’ animal health and environment projects, as well as from the ICARS Science Team. A new round of workshops with human health African projects is planned for mid-2026, and the final Sustainable Impact Resource Guide and Toolkit will be completed after the summer of 2026.

Find out more about the project.