Ahaki Scholarship 2026: Fully Funded Training in Sexual and Reproductive Health for African Students and Professionals
Across Africa, sexual and reproductive health remains one of the most underfunded and underserved areas of healthcare, not because the need is absent, but because the leaders, advocates, and practitioners equipped to address it are in critically short supply. The Ahaki Scholarship for Sexual and Reproductive Health is designed to close that gap.
Offered by the Afya na Haki Institute, this scholarship supports outstanding students enrolled in its Bachelor’s Degree and Postgraduate Diploma programmes in Sexual and Reproductive Health. It is specifically targeted at individuals from marginalised communities across Africa who are committed to advancing reproductive justice, health equity, and social change on the continent.
The application deadline is 31 July 2026 at 23:59 EAT. This post covers everything you need to know: what the scholarship is, who qualifies, how to apply, and how to write an application that stands out.
What Is the Afya na Haki Institute?
The Afya na Haki Institute is an African academic institution committed to transformative education rooted in African realities. Its name, combining the Swahili words for health (afya) and rights (haki), reflects its founding philosophy: that health and human rights are inseparable, and that advancing one requires advancing the other.
The institute’s flagship programmes in Sexual and Reproductive Health are designed to produce a new generation of African leaders, practitioners, policy influencers, advocates, and community workers — who understand the complex intersection of health, rights, gender, and social justice specific to African contexts.
The Ahaki Scholarship is the financial vehicle that makes these programmes accessible to talented individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford them, particularly those from communities most affected by reproductive health inequities.
Programmes Covered by the Scholarship
The Ahaki Scholarship supports students enrolled in either of two academic programmes at the Afya na Haki Institute:
Bachelor’s Degree in Sexual and Reproductive Health: A foundational undergraduate programme covering the science, policy, and rights dimensions of sexual and reproductive health, designed for students entering the field or building a formal academic foundation for their advocacy or practice work.
Postgraduate Diploma in Sexual and Reproductive Health A postgraduate programme for practitioners, health workers, advocates, and professionals who already have a foundation in health or a related field and want to deepen their specialisation in SRH, particularly around reproductive justice, health equity, and policy engagement.
Both programmes are described as pioneering, reflecting the Afya na Haki Institute’s position as one of the few African institutions offering formally accredited, justice-oriented SRH training grounded explicitly in African realities rather than imported Western frameworks.
Who This Scholarship Is For
The Ahaki Scholarship has a specific and deliberate target group. Understanding it clearly before you apply matters, both for your own eligibility assessment and for how you frame your application.
The scholarship is aimed at:
Individuals from marginalised communities across Africa. The scholarship explicitly prioritises candidates from communities that have historically been underserved by health education and leadership pipelines. This includes people from low-income backgrounds, rural communities, communities affected by gender-based violence, LGBTQ+ individuals, people living with disabilities, and others whose access to quality health education has been structurally limited.
People are deeply committed to reproductive justice and health equity. This is not a scholarship for students who want a health qualification as a career credential. It is for people who are driven by a genuine commitment to advancing reproductive rights, challenging health inequities, and building more just health systems in African communities. That commitment needs to be visible in your application.
Advocates, practitioners, and policy influencers. The scholarship is explicitly building a pipeline of leadership in SRH, not just health workers, but people who will shape policy, advocate publicly, and influence how reproductive health is understood and resourced across the continent.
If you are already working in health, social work, community development, advocacy, law, or a related field and you want formal SRH training that aligns with a justice orientation, this scholarship was built for you.
How to Apply: Step by Step
The application process has two distinct components, and both must be completed.
Step 1: Apply for the Academic Programme
Before you can apply for the scholarship, you must first submit an application for one of the Afya na Haki Institute’s academic programmes, either the Bachelor’s Degree or Postgraduate Diploma in Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Your programme application is the foundation. Complete it fully and honestly, ensuring it accurately reflects your academic background, professional experience, and motivations for studying SRH.
Step 2: Submit a Separate Scholarship Application
Once your programme application is submitted, submit a separate scholarship application that includes three components:
1. Personal Statement (maximum 500 words) This is the most important element of your scholarship application. It must detail three things:
- Your motivation — why this scholarship, why SRH, why now
- Your career aspirations — where you see yourself going and what role SRH expertise plays in that trajectory
- Your intended community impact — specifically, how you plan to use this education to benefit your community or contribute to reproductive justice in Africa
2. Current CV or Resume A comprehensive, up-to-date record of your academic background, professional experience, volunteer work, community involvement, publications, and any other relevant activities. For an SRH-focused scholarship, ensure your CV highlights any work, even informal, in health, rights, community development, or advocacy.
3. Reference Letter One reference letter related to either your academic or professional work in SRH. The reference should be from someone who can speak specifically to your engagement with health, rights, or a closely related field — an academic supervisor, a professional manager, or a community leader who has observed your work in a relevant context.
How to Write a Winning Personal Statement
The personal statement is 500 words, a tight constraint that requires you to be precise, specific, and human. Every sentence must earn its place.
Here is how to make yours stand out:
Open with your story, not a definition. Do not start with “Sexual and reproductive health is an important field in Africa.” Start with something specific and real, a moment, a community experience, a patient, a policy failure, or a personal observation that drove you to this work. A statement that begins with your specific context is immediately more compelling than one that begins with a generic framing.
Be honest about where you come from. The scholarship explicitly prioritises individuals from marginalised communities. If your background involves economic hardship, limited access to health education, community health challenges, or any of the structural barriers the scholarship is designed to address — say so. This is not a weakness to hide; it is context that directly speaks to why this scholarship exists.
Connect your aspiration to a real and specific gap. “I want to improve reproductive health in Africa” is too broad. “I want to train community health workers in northern Nigeria to provide post-abortion care safely and without stigma, because the women in my community currently have no access to this service” is specific enough to be taken seriously. The more concrete your intended impact, the more credible your application.
Show that you understand the institute’s approach. The Afya na Haki Institute frames SRH explicitly through a justice and human rights lens, not just clinical health outcomes. Your statement should reflect that you understand and embrace this framework. Words like reproductive justice, health equity, structural barriers, and community-led approaches all signal alignment with the institute’s values, but only if they are used genuinely, not as buzzwords.
End with forward momentum. The final paragraph should leave the reader with a clear picture of what you will do after this programme, not vaguely but specifically. What will change in your work, your community, or your advocacy because you completed this training?
Honest Assessment: Who Should Apply
This scholarship is genuinely transformative for the right candidate — someone working at the frontlines of health, rights, or community advocacy in Africa who needs formal academic training to deepen their expertise and expand their impact.
It is not a scholarship for someone whose primary goal is a qualification credential without a genuine commitment to the justice dimensions of SRH work. The Afya na Haki Institute’s entire educational model is built around transformative, justice-oriented practice — and the scholarship reflects that. Applicants who approach it as a career credential rather than a mission-driven opportunity will produce applications that feel hollow and are unlikely to succeed.
If you are already doing the work, in a hospital, a clinic, a community organisation, an advocacy group, or a policy environment — and you need the formal training to do it better and with more influence, apply. The deadline is 31 July 2026 and the application is not administratively complex. Your story and your commitment are the core of what the panel is evaluating.
Key Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Scholarship application deadline | 31 July 2026 at 23:59 EAT |
| Programme application | Must be submitted before the scholarship application |
EAT is East Africa Time — UTC+3. If you are in Nigeria (WAT, UTC+1), the deadline is 31 July 2026 at 21:59 Nigerian time. If you are in South Africa (SAST, UTC+2), it is 22:59. Submit well before midnight EAT to avoid any last-minute technical issues.
FAQ
Is this scholarship open to all African countries? The scholarship targets individuals from marginalised communities across Africa. No specific country list is stated; if you are African and committed to SRH work, you are in the target group regardless of which African country you are from.
Do I need prior experience in health or SRH to apply? The scholarship covers both a Bachelor’s Degree (for those entering the field) and a Postgraduate Diploma (for those with existing professional or academic foundations). Prior SRH-specific experience is not a hard requirement — genuine commitment and relevant background in any adjacent field are what matter.
Is the scholarship fully funded? The scholarship documentation does not specify the exact financial value; it states that the scholarship supports outstanding students enrolled in Ahaki’s programmes. Contact the Afya na Haki Institute directly to confirm the current scholarship value and what costs are covered.
Can I apply if I am already working in health but do not have a formal health degree? Check the specific admission requirements for each programme on the Afya na Haki Institute’s website. The Postgraduate Diploma may have specific entry requirements. Contact the institute directly for guidance on your specific situation.
How long is the reference letter supposed to be? No length is specified. One page is typically appropriate for a scholarship reference letter. The reference should be specific about your engagement with health, rights, or community work, not a generic character reference.
Where do I find the scholarship application form? On the Afya na Haki Institute’s official website. You must first apply for the academic programme, then submit the separate scholarship application.
What does EAT mean for the deadline? EAT is East Africa Time, UTC+3. Convert to your local time zone before the deadline; do not assume you have until midnight in your own time zone.
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