Knowledge Café brings discusses policy formation in Zimbabwe

On 20 October 2015, the Zimbabwe Evidence Informed Policy Network (ZeipNET) is partnering with the United States (US) Embassy Public Affairs Section to host a knowledge café on "Evidence Informed Policymaking in Zimbabwe: Challenges, Successes and Opportunities".

The event will combine ZeipNET’s Knowledge Café series and the US Embassy’s Food for Thought series. Both platforms share a common goal of creating an enabling environment for engaging citizens, media, civil society and government departments on key national topical issues.

The objective of this latest knowledge café (KC) is to demystify and reflect on the concept of EIPM and to highlight challenges and opportunities for the use of evidence in Zimbabwe’s policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and review. Of particular note, the KC seeks to obtain insight into what we can do to promote the routine use of evidence in policy making.
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Source:  INASP

Evidence-informed policy making in Zimbabwe: Challenges, Successes and Opportunities

Guest post by Gilchriste Ndongwe and Ronald Munatsi from ZeipNET, Zimbabwe
Evidence-informed policy making (EIPM) is critical to ensuring good public policies. In Zimbabwe, EIPM is still in its infancy, but is starting to make progress. Now is a good time to start asking: what is Zimbabwe doing well in this area? What are the challenges to using evidence in policymaking? And what are the opportunities to see evidence become a routine part of Zimbabwe’s policymaking processes?

On 20 October 2015, the Zimbabwe Evidence Informed Policy Network (ZeipNET) is partnering with the United States (US) Embassy Public Affairs Section to host a knowledge café on “Evidence Informed Policymaking in Zimbabwe: Challenges, Successes and Opportunities”. The event will combine ZeipNET’s Knowledge Café series and the US Embassy’s Food for Thought series. Both platforms share a common goal of creating an enabling environment for engaging citizens, media, civil society and government departments on key national topical issues. Click to read more



Source: INASP Blog

EIPM training Intervention: Reviewing Parliament’s Information Support System as preparatory work

Parliament of Ghana

Background
Having trialed VakaYiko’s Evidence-Informed Policy Making (EIPM) course for Civil Servants at the Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC) earlier this year in Accra, information support staff at the Parliamentary Service of Ghana was next on the radar of project administrators. A review exercise was conducted to gain insight of the information support system prevalent at the Legislature. These are presented in this piece, but also includes an overview of VakaYiko training and the rational for EIPM training in Parliament.

VakaYiko Training in EIPM
The VakaYiko EIPM Course is aimed at mid-level civil servants involved in accessing, synthesizing and communicating evidence to policymakers in resource-constrained settings. This includes researchers, policy analysts, library and ICT staff, and others.

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Video interview explains how DFID is using evidence

Guest post by Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman, INASP

Ed Barney, Research Uptake Manager, DFID, UK

GINKS, one of the partners in the INASP-led VakaYiko Consortium, recently published some ‘voices’ in the form of videos recorded during the recent VakaYiko Consortium meeting in Accra, Ghana.

In the first video, Ed Barney, Research Uptake Manager at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), talks about evidence-informed policy making (EIPM) within DFID. “Ours is an organization with more than 3,000 staff based in 28 countries and it is quite a challenge to embed a culture of EIPM,” he says.

To help achieve this goal, DFID is building up its supply of research information; as Ed observes, if you can’t access it then you can’t use it. DFID is building information systems to provide easy access to research, to improve its own portfolio and communications to the rest of the organization. And to also change the products they used to provide as evidence to its decision makers.  Click here to read more

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Qurratulain Zaman is Communications Officer at INASP, an international development charity working with a global network of partners to improve access, production and use of research information and knowledge, so that countries are equipped to solve their development challenges.

Series of VakaYiko Interviews at the Annual Consortium Meeting in Accra, Ghana

This video is a series of interviews conducted at the the VakaYiko Consortium Meeting in Accra. 
VakaYiko  (www.inasp.info/en/work/vakayiko/) is a three year project working in Ghana, South 
Africa and Zimbabwe to build the capacity of policy makers to access, evaluate and use evidence 
in policy-making. Partners, Research Scientist, Communications Officer and a Freelance 
Consultant from Zimbabwe, Ghana and UK expressed their views on Evidence informed 
policy making and the way forward. This interview was filmed during the VakaYiko 
Consortium annual meeting 2015, held in Accra, Ghana. Video and editing by 
Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Evidence informed policy making - An interview with Ibrahim Inusah, Ghana

An interview with Ibrahim Inusah, Executive Secretary, Ghana Information Network for 
Knowledge Sharing (GINKS). Ibrahim talks about the importance of evidence informed 
policy-making, Obstacles to evidence-informed policy-making in Ghana, Opportunities for 
evidence-informed policy-making in Ghana and the VakaYiko Consortium annual meeting 2015.

GINKS was established in 2003 with the vision of a society where all have equal access and
 use of ICT for national development and a mission to establish a platform committed to promote, 
create and provide knowledge for all through the use of ICTs for national development in Ghana 
(www.ginks.org). The VakaYiko Consortium www.inasp.info/en/work/vakayiko/, a three year 
project working in Ghana, South Africa and Zimbabwe to build the capacity of policy makers to 
access, evaluate and use evidence in policy-making. This interview was filmed during the 
VakaYiko Consortium annual meeting 2015, held in Accra, Ghana. Video and editing 
by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Evidence informed policy making - An interview with Mina Okuru, Ghana

Mina Okuru is the Communications Coordinator at Center for Democratic 
Development (CCD-Ghana) in Accra.

CDD-Ghana an independent, non partisan and, nonprofit organization based in Accra, 
Ghana (www.cddgh.org). The CDD-Ghana is dedicated to the promotion of society and 
government based on the rule of law, appropriate checks on the power of the state, and 
integrity in public administration. Mina talks about the challenges to communicating 
research evidence to policy-makers in Ghana, opportunities for communicating research 
evidence to policy-makers in Ghana  and the role of media in the policy-processes.
This interview was filmed during the VakaYiko Consortium annual meeting 2015, 
held in Accra, Ghana. Video and editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com