From evidence to impact: Supporting strategic decision-making in Africa

When knowledge crosses borders and collaboration ensues, the evidence-informed decisions that result can make meaningful impact towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

This is the mission of the Center for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES), which leads the East African Regional Evidence Synthesis Initiative (EARESI) under the Learning Together to Advance Evidence and Equity in Policymaking for Achieving the SDGs (LEEPS) partnership.   

LEEPS, an Africa-led CAD9.2-million partnership, is funded by IDRC, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Robert Bosch Stiftung. It brings together leading research organizations from across Africa to learn from one another, exchange knowledge and experience and jointly solve challenges as they work to accelerate progress toward the SDGs. Now in its second year, LEEPS supports policymaking in the areas of reproductive health and the transition to low-carbon economies, with an overarching goal of strengthening how evidence is produced, translated and used in sub-Saharan Africa through the provision of high-quality, synthesized and timely evidence for decision-making.  

Achieving this objective takes sustained and strategic efforts to build an evidence-into-policymaking culture that supports the optimal use and equitable distribution of resources and ensures that decisions are credible and supported by evidence. EARESI is one initiative that is putting these goals into practice.  

Collaboration and cross-fertilization in East Africa 

EARESI is focused on strengthening technical capacity and fostering policy engagement in evidence-informed decision-making, which involves identifying, appraising and mobilizing the best available evidence for safe and effective policy and programs.   

The EARESI team is assisting policymakers with research evidence and synthesis, forging new targeted relationships with policymakers and civil society in: 

• Ethiopia for gender and women’s affairs  
• Malawi for health, energy and environment  
• Tanzania for health and local government  
• Uganda for clean energy, water, environment and health  

“This collaboration allows a cross-fertilization of ideas and impact at the policymaking level,” explained Edward Kayongo, senior research scientist at ACRES. “We put together knowledge brokers from across Africa on a team — Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda, for example — to respond to issues in one country that other countries may be grappling with, such as an energy policy question.” 

Successful evidence use requires a solid understanding of needs, capacities, timeliness and the appropriateness of the evidence being used for decision-making. Hence, EARESI conducted a service availability assessment to identify the strengths of various country teams and gaps that need to be addressed, then developed and delivered evidence-informed decision-making training to strengthen capacities.  

Complementarity and cross-fertilization are also key for expediting skill building and promoting effective use of evidence. “The Tanzania team is strong in implementation science, while the Malawi team has expertise in primary research, plus a great deal of engagement within the policy space,” said Kayongo. “The resource tool we developed has helped us critically plan improvements and capacity needs for the various teams.” 

Evidence database for policymakers 

As part of its LEEPS work, EARESI created a searchable database featuring 12 years of existing health research for policymakers and decision-makers in East Africa.  

“We compiled health data and evidence for Uganda, and we are now incorporating research from Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania,” Kayongo said. “A policymaker looking for evidence on the impact of contraceptives in controlling teenage pregnancies in Uganda, for example, can input keywords and retrieve a list of relevant research papers. We are integrating an artificial intelligence chatbot to synthesize the findings, saving valuable time for users.” 

The next phase will incorporate research from more countries regarding the impacts of natural resources, degradation, climate change and environmental health. 

Integrating gender into policymaking 

Gender equity is a cornerstone of the LEEPS initiative. EARESI has maintained a focus on ensuring that gender, equity and inclusion are top of mind when providing synthesized evidence to policymakers. They engaged the School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University in Uganda to recommend the best ways to apply a gender lens to research and data disaggregation, ensuring that policymakers understand the gendered impacts of their decisions. 

The value in this approach became clear when an mpox outbreak hit the Democratic Republic of the Congo in November 2023 and later spread into Uganda’s border towns and the capital city, Kampala. The EARESI team supported the Uganda Ministry of Health by analyzing epidemiological data, which showed evidence that men were at higher risk of contracting mpox outside the home, while women — who serve as caregivers to sick family members — were at the highest risk in the home.  

“We brought this gendered finding to Ugandan policymakers and helped them understand that interventions in the home should be different for women than men,” explained Kayongo.  

Building a pan-Africa network for the future 

The success of EARESI demonstrates the importance of trust-building between researchers and decision-makers.  

Regarding next steps, Kayongo said that EARESI hopes to build an in-person and online peer-to-peer platform to bring together policymakers, knowledge brokers and researchers, allowing them to share findings and best practices and continue building capacity for evidence use in decision-making. 

“We envision LEEPS growing into a specialized African hub, where knowledge brokers and researchers have conversations about policy-relevant questions,” Kayonga explained. “This multi-country effort to share synthesized findings and engage in conversations will address policy needs and continue to build capacity for evidence use in decision-making,” he added.