GEAR up, supported by the UK aid Fleming Fund, is a groundbreaking research consortium looking at links between gender, equity and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which has been named as a finalist for the ReAct Africa Art Prize for their work presented in a collage.
This recognition highlights the importance of the project’s innovative communications approach. Using art to shed light and prompt discussion on complex scientific issues like AMR, illustrating its real-world impact on communities and health systems.
GEAR up has been invited to present at the ReAct Africa and South Centre AMR Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, on 11 – 12 June 2025, and will be represented by Sneha Paul, of BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, who submitted the collage work.
The collage series was created earlier this year when the consortium team – comprised of researchers from Africa, Asia and Europe – came together in a series of meetings to visualise their work. Team members shared their hopes and fears in the context of their work, considered the impact they would like to have and tried to visualise a world where AMR is no longer a challenge and threat.
The vibrant and thought-provoking collages use all manner of materials, from magazines and newspapers to medication packaging, fabric and beads. They explore themes of health, illness, antibiotic use, gender, communication, and the interconnectedness of people and health systems. The collages invite a deeper reflection on how we see, speak, and respond to health, gender and equity in complex, integrated systems.
Lived experience
“Facts alone don’t move people—stories and visuals do,” says Bachera Aktar from GEAR up’s partner in Bangladesh, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University. “Creative communication methods, like collage, don’t just illustrate science; they humanise it. Collages are more than just art; they’re a dialogue, a way of seeing and feeling. Layer by layer, it helps us uncover the deep connections between gender, AMR, inequality, and lived experience.”
Expressing humanity within research
“We are facing a wave of health misinformation and disinformation. It’s confusing, alienating and designed to foster mistrust,” says Kate Hawkins of Pamoja Communications, who led the creative process. “Expressing humanity within our research communication and recognising the complex feelings and standpoints of receivers of health messaging is essential to create the solidarity needed to face the challenge ahead.”
You can access the collage work along with a short film about the process on our website: https://gearupaction.org/picturing-gender-equity-and-amr-in-collage/
Please contact us if you would like higher quality versions of these files.
About GEAR up
GEAR up seeks to catalyse action on gender and equity within AMR through supporting Fleming Fund country grantees to mainstream gender and equity within routine AMR systems and structures. We aim to increase awareness, and contribute to the knowledge, on structural inequities driving and shaping the AMR response. We also seek to facilitate South-South exchange through building a global community of practice to guide and inspire further action and global knowledge sharing.
GEAR up is funded by the Fleming Fund. The Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) Fleming Fund is a UK aid programme supporting up to 25 countries across Africa and Asia to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a leading contributor to deaths from infectious diseases worldwide.
The Fleming Fund invests in strengthening AMR surveillance systems through a portfolio of country grants, regional grants, and fellowships managed by Mott MacDonald, and global projects managed by DHSC.
Media Contact:
Kate Hawkins
Head of Communications
GEAR up consortium
kate@pamoja.uk.com
