Focus on decision-making
Evidence the key word at Pretoria conference
We attracted the world’s attention, with delegates from around the world joining the digital event. Professor Ruth Stewart Africa Evidence Network chairperson
SOME of the continent’s evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) thought leaders and finest minds convened at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) International Convention Centre in Pretoria for the 3rd Biennial Evidence 2018 conference.
The three-day event, which ended on Friday, was hosted by the Africa Evidence Network (AEN) and is described as one of Africa’s leading platforms for promoting the use of evidence among decision-makers on the continent.
“We formed the Africa Evidence Network because we believe that only together can we make evidence-informed decision-making a reality in Africa.
“By basing decisions on the best available research evidence, we can inform better policies to avoid harm and reduce poverty and inequality across the region.
“Many stakeholders play a role in enabling evidence-informed decision-making, from researchers, science communicators and public servants to parliamentarians and members of civil society,” said Africa Evidence Network chairperson, Professor Ruth Stewart.
She said they aimed to bridge the many divides that separated these communities and make it challenging to work together.
“Just bringing together such a wide range of people to share experiences and learn from one another is a radical and effective way of improving decision-making across the continent. Evidence 2018 exceeded our expectations in the range of people who attended and the levels of discussion and debate that took place.
“It brought together some of the best minds from across Africa who are looking for innovative ways to increase the use of research evidence in decision-making to address the many challenges that we face.
“Not only that, we attracted the world’s attention, with delegates from all around the world joining our digital event.”
The AEN, whose secretariat is hosted by the Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg, is a network of more than 1600 members comprising researchers, government officials and practitioners, all of whom are interested in producing evidence for, and using evidence in, decision-making and policy-making across the continent.
This year, for the first time, the AEN hosted a hybrid conference, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, for which 222 delegates from 32 countries registered to attend, and a further 298 people participated online from 44 countries.
The online conference included live streaming from all five plenaries, numerous parallel sessions, an online chat forum, as well as exclusive interviews with various speakers and experts from a studio sponsored by the University of Johannesburg, and its Faculty of Humanities.
SECTION27 executive director Mark Heywood opened the conference by making a case for “evidence as the fuel of activism”, while also asking: “What do we do when the evidence is overwhelming but the action is underwhelming?”
“Training the civil society networks about evidence is crucial to catalysing active citizenship and thereby institutionalising evidence-informed policy-making.”
He said his organisation, as a social justice organisation promoting accountability, good governance and the realisation of human rights, depended heavily on access to, and the utilisation of, evidence.