1. 1 Capacity Building of Policy Makers – Case studies and lessons learnt Evidence-Informed Policy Making Conference Ile-Ife, Nigeria 27-29 February, 2012 Dr Ruth Nyokabi Musila

2. Research to Policy Secondary analyses of national/regional data sets Stakeholder analysis Systematic reviews Policy analysis 1. Knowledge generation 2. Knowledge synthesis, translation and packaging 3. Advocacy tools Policy briefs, fact sheets Presentations

3. Public Health Research Themes Maternal and Child Health Family planning Integration of Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Health system strengthening and health financing Population change and sustainable development (including climate change)

4. Research to Policy Models (1) Source: Lavis et al 2006. Assessing country efforts to link research to action

5. Research to Policy Models (2) Enhance researcher push e.g. systematic reviews, reports, policy briefs, fact sheets Enhance policy maker pull e.g. key informant interviews, questionnaires, consultative meetings with policy makers, direct support to policy formulation (e.g. Malawi) and programme design for DFID funding (e.g. Uganda) Facilitate researcher-policy maker linkage and exchange e.g. workshops, conferences, meetings

6. Policy Maker: WIIFM Relatively short tenure (about 5 years) Government agenda Personal goals/passion Key informant interviews: Identified need Context-relevant implementation research: practical, action-oriented research that answers questions on how to improve different aspects health care, e.g. improving equitable access through subsidy vouchers. (i.e. justification of use of limited resources)

7. Barriers to availability and use of needed research evidence 7 Policy makers Weak capacity to identify and articulate research gaps Weak capacity to develop research questions Weak capacity to assess quality and synthesise research from various sources into applicable Researchers Failure to align research with government agenda Research purely for peer-reviewed scientific publications and career advancement

8. Capacity building of policy makers to use research evidence Sources of research evidence Conferences and symposia Dissemination workshops Published materials e.g. policy briefs, fact sheets, reports [N.B. packaging of research evidence will influence use] One-on-one meetings with researchers or knowledge brokers Involvement of knowledge producers in technical committees

9. Capacity Building Case Studies Theme: Population and development Problem: Sub-Saharan Africa’s population burden in relation to high growth rates and threat of not meeting national socio-economic development goals Target audience: Policy makers, civil servants, development partners, and researchers Events targeted for knowledge exchange platforms: o Populations Footprints Symposium, Nairobi, May 2011 o 6 th African Population Conference, Ouagadougou, December 2011 o Appraisal of Uganda Joint UN Programme on Population and Development o Review of Malawi Population Policy and drafting of concept note for implementation strategy

10. Knowledge exchange platforms - Case study 1 - Population Footprints Symposium (May 2011) The main aim was to enhance awareness of linkages between population and climate change challenges in Kenya. AFIDEP conceptualized the conference but asked the Ministry of Planning to be a co-organizer in order to get buy-in and empower their capacity to provide leadership in integrating the two issues Activities o Break out sessions o Active participation of policymakers in defining knowledge gaps, research disseminationand determining the future agenda on the topic o Informal networking opportunities

11. Knowledge Exchange Platforms - Case study 2 - 6 th African Population Conference (December 2012) The conference is organized every four years to review the state of knowledge on the African Population, assess programme responses, and outline future research and programme agendas AFIDEP sponsored attendance by policy makers from ministries of Planning, Health, and Environment agencies from Malawi and Kenya to enhance their knowledge of population issues, expand their networking horizon, and facilitate knowledge exchange Activities o Hands on pre-conference workshop on modelling – population projections o Active participation of policymakers in research dissemination and discussions o Informal networking opportunities

12. Knowledge Exchange Platforms - Case study 3 - Appraisal of Uganda Joint UN Programme on Population and Development (2010) AFIDEP was contracted by DFID through HLSP to appraise the proposal developed by UNFPA and the government of Uganda to implement a five- year programme to address the country’s population challenges. The aim was to advise DFID and the government on the extent to which the proposed integrated programme was evidence based and assess its chances of success o AFIDEP carried out extensive consultation with policy makers and other stakeholders to understand what they sought to achieve to assess how well the proposal articulated those objectives

13. Knowledge Exchange Platforms - Case study 3 (continued) o AFIDEP and other partners wrote a technical report, which suggested the need for the project to pay more attention (than is usually the case with programmes implemented through the UN system) in evaluation and generation of lessons for scale up. o The appraisal also recommended that at least a third of the £20 million should go towards addressing the country’s acute family planning commodity security problem o This model of working with governments provides a unique opportunity to promote use of research evidence in the design of interventions and helps to highlight areas where governments and development partners need to build their own and other stakeholder’s capacity.

14. Knowledge Exchange Platforms - Case study 4 - Review of Malawi Population Policy and drafting of concept note for implementation strategy (2011) UNFPA and the Ministry of Planning asked AFIDEP to undertake a critical review of the country’s National Population Policy and advise it on the extent to which the policy was evidence based and in line with international principles underlying population policies. AFIDEP’s report led to the convening of a stakeholders meeting to review and agree on various technical and rights oriented flaws that AFIDEP noted in the draft before it was sent back to Cabinet for approval. For instance, the clause that the government should aim to achieve a family of four children was removed following this advice.

15. Knowledge Exchange Platforms - Case study 4 (continued) - AFIDEP was also asked to provide a draft of a framework that the country could use to develop an integrated programme on population and development to serve as an implementation strategy for the policy. Direct involvement in reviewing government policies of this nature provides opportunities to identify areas where the skills of policy makers need to be enhanced and point them to areas where reference to evidence needs to be strengthened. It also allows knowledge brokers to recommend specific sources of evidence to be used and helps to reduce the gap between generation and use of evidence in policy-formulation.

16. Outcome Improved knowledge and skills of policymakers; appreciation of the place for research in policy decisions Personal contact – people not institutions work together Abolish misconceptions and build trust – policy makers are more likely to ask for research to support decisions Build relationships and working partnerships – policy makers can influence research agenda and vice-versa Entrench a culture of evidence-based policy formulation

17. Key messages Linkage and exchange platforms are successful in influencing perceptions and breaking stereotypes that researchers and policymakers have about each other An innovative, multi-strategic capacity building approach is more likely to attain evidence-informed policy making Going beyond dissemination of research findings to providing advice on actual policies and programmes provides a unique way to ensure that evidence is actually applied in these processes

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