Uganda’s first wildlife veterinary doctor, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is a recipient of the 2022 Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership prize for her persistent and innovative leadership in improving human-wildlife interaction.
Kalema-Zikusoka has been recognised among the best three well-established leaders who not only have a substantial track record of accomplishment, but also who are likely to continue to make extraordinary contributions to human welfare.
The other 2022 prize laureates are Yevgenia Albats, a Russian investigative journalist, political scientist, author, and distinguished radio host, and Dr. Sam Muller, a founding director of The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law, who has over the years developed mechanisms to permit access to justice and transparency in the legal space for global citizens.
Kalema-Zikusoka is revered for her integrated strategy for helping people and wildlife coexist, through Conservation through Public Health (CTPH), a non-profit organization she founded. The non-profit protects endangered gorillas and other wildlife through One Health approaches.
The CTPH’s innovative approach generated strategies to enhance the hygiene practices of villagers and encourage entrepreneurism connected to the park. The program has resulted in improved health conditions and a decline in hunting and poaching as locals discovered ways of making money from tourism.
About Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
Kalema-Zikusoka is the founder of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), she graduated from the Royal Veterinary college, University of London in 1996. She pioneered first veterinary department at Uganda Wildlife Authority’s (UWA).
She has won several Awards including the 2008 San Diego Zoo Conservation-in-Action Award, a Whitley gold award in 2009, a 2011 WINGS women of discovery and exploration humanity award and one awarded to her by president Museveni in 2017 for her contribution to the nation as a conservationist and veterinarian. She also won a Sierra Club Earthcare award in 2018 and the 2020 Uganda veterinary association World Veterinary day award among several other awards and world recognitions.
The Prize
Each of the three award winners will carry a US$50,000 (over sh180m) honorarium. The Tällberg Foundation, launched in 1981 exists to explore the issues that are challenging to societies. The programs focus on understanding how to re-inject ethics into leadership and re-establish the legitimacy of governance as well as managing climate change, mass migration and other phenomena.
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