A picture says a thousand words – and what better way to tell the many aspects of One Health than photography! In June 2025, the Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) project announced a photography competition that aimed at highlighting real-life stories, challenges, and successes that demonstrate the interconnections between humans, animals, and the environment. The competition also aimed to promote awareness of the One Heath approach among photojournalists, photography enthusiasts and the public.
The winners of the competition were announced at the end of October, following a multi-level selection process by COHESA consortium representatives, multipliers and One Health partners.
Theo Knight-Jones, Senior Scientist at ILRI and COHESA Principal Investigator, emphasized the value of the competition in strengthening multi-sectoral understanding of One Health. “This competition provided a platform for people from different backgrounds to express and visualize what One Health means to them," he noted.
Anne Canon, a Veterinary Epidemiologist at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development and one of the judges highlighted the importance of portraying all three domains of One Health. “Some entries were disqualified because they only showcased one or two aspects of One Health—yet the approach is built on the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health,” she explained.
More than thirty entries, in either photo story or single photo story categories were received from some of the 12 COHESA project countries and were judged based on relevance to One Health, creativity and originality, as well as technical quality. The winning photos will be added to the ILRI database of One Health-related photos.
List of winners
Photo story category
Winner- Harmony can save the planet- Reflect and reconnect- Egide Niyotwagira, Rwanda
1st Runner-up- Life’s Lifeline: Drawing Water in the Arid Plains of Tanzania- Abdinego, Tanzania
Single photo story category
Winner- Celebrating vaccination - Rantile Waturu Daniel, Kenya
1st runner- up – Risks of poor waste management - Yared Ermiyas Belete, Ethiopia
2nd runner-up – Tree Sapling – Stephen Gicho Ng'endo, Kenya
Winning photos are available here: COHESA- One Health photo competition | Flickr