GINKS ICT4D stories in Ghana

Promoting the use of evidence in parliaments

2017-02-22T06:20:00.003-08:00

Photo: Participants in the Parliament Learning Exchange (Left to right) – Mohammed Hardi Nyagsi, Parliament of Ghana; John Mugabi Bagonza, Parliament of Uganda, Christina Mafoko, Director of Research, Parliament of Zimbabwe; Abrahan Ibn Zackaria, Parliament of Ghana.

– Blog by Agnes A.S. Titriku, Program Manager, African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Ghana
Staff members from three parliaments (Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe) are participating in a Learning Exchange programme coordinated by the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), as part of the VakaYiko project. The aim is to strengthen the role of parliamentary information support units in evidence uptake by providing a space for peer exchange and support—both ‘learning together’ and ‘learning from each other’.

What do the parliaments’ information support systems look like?

“Mapping out linkages and collaboration among information departments has provided insight on how to strengthen weak links for instance through learning from other parliaments”. – Research Officer, Parliament of Ghana
At our first meeting in Kampala in November, participants from Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe learned about each of the parliaments’ information support systems. Thirteen staff from information-producing departments – Research, Library, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Parliamentary Budget Office – joined the meeting.
In all three parliaments, the research departments are the main engines that drive the gathering and synthesis of evidence for decision makers. These vary in size and strength across the learning exchange partners, however: Parliament of Uganda has 34 research staff, Zimbabwe 8 and Ghana 10.
Departments such as Library and ICT play an important complementary role. The involvement of these and others such as Hansard, Committees, and Public Affairs in the use of evidence varies across the three parliaments.
Participants also gained insight into the role of specialized evidence units such as Parliamentary Budget Offices, which provide technical analysis on the annual national budget to guide MPs in the scrutiny of the Budget Bill. Uganda is the only Learning Exchange parliament which currently has a Budget Office; Zimbabwe and Ghana are moving towards establishing them, so were interested to hear the experience of Uganda’s Budget Office representative at the meeting.
The working relationship between these information support units is a crucial starting point when supporting evidence use in parliaments. We decided to focus the Learning Exchange on the strongest and most crucial working relationships (between ICT, Research and Library).

Opportunities for improving evidence use in parliaments

The Learning Exchange builds on the first three years of the VakaYiko programme by providing opportunities to collaboratively tackle some of the organizational-level issues that affect evidence use in parliaments. Participants selected several key areas to work on together.
“Not all 275 MPs use products of the research department. Some do not know much about what the department does”. – Research Officer, Parliament of Ghana
The visibility of research departments and the services they offer is important role for stimulating demand for evidence from MPs. Last year we brought research staff from the Zimbabwean and Ghanaian parliaments to observe the Ugandan Parliament’s Research Week, hosted by the Department of Research Services (DRS) under the VakaYiko programme. Parliament of Ghana is now planning to hold a similar event as part of the orientation programmes for its new parliament.
Establishing links with partners from academia, civil society and other institutions in local research systems can boost parliaments’ research capabilities across the many sectors they need to gather evidence on. Participants shared their experience of approaches they are taking to strengthen these links, including through roundtables and exhibits at events. We also heard from a guest speaker from the African Centre for Technology Studies in Kenya, which held a successful series of roundtables with MPs to strengthen the evidence base for climate change legislation.
Another common issue faced by all the information support units is negotiating the intensely political environment within parliaments, as well as the power relationships between parliaments and the executive. Gathering, synthesising and communicating evidence within this challenging context was the topic of a recent videoconference between staff from the 3 parliaments. We used this opportunity to discuss some of the more strategic communications issues faced by parliamentary evidence providers, including how to strengthen feedback mechanisms to build a better understanding of MPs’ evidence needs.

Looking ahead: what next?

Participants are currently using a DGroup – Development through Dialogue – online platform to share experience and examples of their work, such as policy briefs and other evidence products.
Our final face-to-face meeting is taking place in Accra next month. This will include discussions of methods to strengthen mechanisms for gathering citizens evidence, in which Ghana will share their Community Scorecard approach, as well as expanding access to online sources of evidence, in which Uganda will share their experience as a member of their national library consortium.
The next six weeks promise to be an interesting learning experience for parliamentary staff and ACEPA is excited to be part of the process. It is our hope that at the end of this programme, staff from the three parliaments would have learnt from each other, enabling them to promote and increase the use of evidence to inform policy making in their respective parliaments. We’ll be writing up what we’ve learned about evidence in parliaments into a series of papers to be released later this year – stay tuned!

Agnes Titriku is the Program Manager for the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), where she plays an active role in the design and implementation of programs and interventions for Parliaments within and without the African continent.

She also coordinates the activities of the West African Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC), whose secretariat is currently hosted by ACEPA.

She has eight years’ experience of active engagement in the field of Parliamentary Democracy and Governance.

Prior to working at ACEPA, she has worked with the Canadian Parliamentary Centre, where she provided research and programmatic support to a number of parliamentary strengthening projects that were being implemented by the Centre.

Source: INASP Blog
http://blog.inasp.info/promoting-evidence-parliaments/

Ghana's researchers recycle plastic to refine metals

2016-04-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ghana is the second largest producer of gold in Africa and a
major producer of manganese and the main aluminium ore,
bauxite. Yet, despite mining accounting for more than a third
of the country’s export earnings, none of these minerals are
currently processed domestically, meaning the country is losing
out on the huge profits to be gained by adding value to raw
materials. A rich seam of other minerals, including iron ore,
are as yet untapped.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bELbUV3qR7c

Follow-up shows positive impacts of training on EIPM participants

2016-02-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Capacity building is an integral part of development assistance. It seeks to build the understanding, skills and knowledge-base of individuals and institutions. But after capacity building, it is prudent to justify the intervention by measuring the impact it has on trainees.

In 2015, the VakaYiko consortium entered an agreement with the Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC) in Ghana to develop a course and train civil servants on Evidence-Informed Policy Making (EIPM). From April 20 to 30, 2015, 23 officers from 14 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the civil service and 2 parliamentary staff participated in the first batch of the course.

Participants were taken through all four (4) modules of the course ranging from the concepts of evidence and evidence-informed policymaking; challenges and opportunities involved with the use of evidence for policymaking; different sources of evidence and evidence products available; accessing these evidence literature; appraising the evidence literature; understanding methodological issues within the literature; and communicating evidence gathered to appropriate audience(s) using appropriate communication tools and media.

Based on Action Plans submitted a follow-up impact assessment was carried out from August 17 to October 8, 2015 for 3 main objectives; to assess the status of Action Plan implementation by participants, to learn from conditions existing at their work places for course improvement, and to assist with communicating best practices. Data was collected from twenty participants served as respondents.

Five thematic areas were assessed:

Action Plan

Participants were assessed on the levels at which they had implemented their actions plans. Twenty percent of the participants completed the implementation of their action plans, 40% were almost complete and the remaining 40% were half way through the implementation of their plans.

On challenges encountered in the implementation of the action plans, 1 respondent did not encountered any challenge, 9 reported overloaded work schedules, 3 had a problem of internet connectivity, 3 were isolated by their members and 2 did not get adequate support from their colleagues.

Participants were also assessed on factors that created enabling environment for the implementation of their action plans. Sixteen (57.1%) respondents received cooperation from team members involved in the action plan implementation. This was confirmed by their supervisors. Other enabling factors for the performance include; the fact that activities being implemented were satisfying organisational needs; that minimal organisational resources were required; that strategic buy-ins were secured from stakeholders within and outside the organisations; and that participants showed positive attitude towards the implementation of action plans.

Internal monitoring and evaluation

Participants were required to monitor and evaluate their action plans, and they used varied means to monitor and evaluate their actions — crosschecking action plans; looking out for output/indicators; personal visits; as part of to do lists; and by collaborating with other colleagues.

Using these M&E activities as guiding tools, 1 participant developed an information request form to be used by the front desk unit of the organisation for information to regularise and clarify the nature of information request. Twelve others sensitised members of their organisations; whiles another 4 made efforts to organise internally created documents.

Another 3 participants satisfied their obligations by working to gather evidence in the form of data/information/research publications for their organisations, activities that have been stimulated by the training. Other outstanding activities perform by the participants include; uploading documents onto the website, gathering feedback, sensitisation and uploading database with current data.

Effects of training

Participants experience better appreciation of internal documents for EIPM; better understanding of research methodologies, increased knowledge of information/evidence sources, enhanced skill-set to access evidence, improved contribution to policy documents, critical thinking capacity when assessing evidence products and an increased awareness and appreciation of EIPM concepts.

General feedback and recommendation

In general the EIPM course has enhanced the skills of participants to access evidence, improved their contributions to policy documents and increased ability to communicate evidence. All the participants recommended EIPM training to their colleagues. The training is believed to be having significant effects on participants and their organisations. Constant introduction of innovations by participants to their work places will result is marked improvement in policy making processes with Ghana’s Civil Service.

It is recommended that support be offered to successful graduates of these trainings once they return to their organizations, and training partners must endeavour to consolidate the implementation of these action plan through follow-ups such as was conducted by VakaYiko partners.

Evidence-Informed Policy Making in Ghana—GINKS Shows the way

2016-02-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

Evidence-Informed Policy Making in Ghana — GINKS Shows the way

There is a growing demand for evidence informed policy making to improve relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of policy reforms. It is argued that the absence of evidence leads to opinion based policies which rely deeply on either the selective use of evidence or experimental opinions of individuals or groups.

Evidence-informed policy making is grounded on the fact that policy decisions should be informed by available evidence and balanced analysis of the policy issue in question. This is based on the fact that a policy decision made on evidence is likely to produce a better outcome than one that is opinion-based.

The VakaYiko Consortium

To increase the use of evidence in policy making in developing countries, the VakaYiko consortium, a network of NGOs working in Ghana, Zimbabwe and South Africa; the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and International Network for the Availability of Scientific Information (INASP) was formed based on the premise that for research evidence to be routinely and effectively used in policy-making, at least three factors need to be in place: individuals with the skills to access, evaluate and use research evidence; processes for handling research evidence in policy-making departments; and a facilitating environment that identifies and responds to research uptake needs.

Ghanaian Researchers’ Perspectives

From the perspectives of researchers, there is no synergy between them (researchers) and policy makers. There is also the need to demystify research and policy making. Even though there are a number of platforms from which evidence (in the form of data, research articles, expert opinion and citizen knowledge) can be accessed for policy making in Ghana, the question remains whether potential users are aware of these, and have the necessary skills to access them, and also check for quality across the various platforms.

GINKS Training Programmes

GINKS, the consortium representative in Ghana, started building the capacity of civil servants and parliamentary staff on evidence-informed policy making. So far, GINKS has trained over 60 people from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and information support staff of the Parliament of Ghana. In April, 2015, GINKS in collaboration with the Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC), trained staff from MDAs on evidence-informed policy making. The Head of Civil Service in Ghana, Nana Dwemena Agyekum, lauded the EIPM approach as a unique one that would move people away from the usual desk-top policy formulation to a more rigorous scientific process. Clara Richards, Director of the consortium, said civil servants needed skills to be able to search for relevant information and effectively communicate it to those who make policy.

This programme was followed in October by another training programme for middle level staff working in MDAs. In her interaction with participants, the Principal of the CSTC, Mrs Dora Dei-Tumi indicated that the quality of information submitted to cabinet effects the quality of policies the government of the day will formulate. She reiterated the core function of the civil service as the provision of policy options for government, adding that the CSTC was taking advantage of GINKS’ support to build the capacity of civil servants to be able to provide information that speaks to the needs of government.

GINKS also recognises that the role information support staff of parliament play in policy. The organisation therefore opened this year with a ten day capacity building training for this level of staff. A Deputy Clerk of Parliament, Alhaji Ibrahim Gombilla, was excited at the support extended by GINKS to the parliamentary staff. He said parliament places a lot of emphasis on capacity building but did not have all the resources to do it alone; hence, GINKS' support was timely.

GINKS has also built the capacity of staff of District Assemblies through policy dialogue in Ho and Koforidua in the Volta and Eastern regions of Ghana respectively.

Training people on evidence-informed policy making also involve evaluating the trainees at their work places to get first-hand information on how the training impacts on their performance. GINKS therefore make follow to ups to evaluate action plans drawn by trainees during these trainings and the results have been encouraging.

By Sule Jotie (GINKS)

Knowledge café on evidence-informed policy-making in Zimbabwe

2016-02-05T02:02:00.000-08:00

ZeipNet - Evidence Informed Policymaking Interviews

2016-02-05T02:00:00.001-08:00

Evidence informed policymaking (EIPM) is an approach that
ensures decision-making is well informed by the best available
evidence. A number of studies show that most policy failures
and inconsistencies are largely caused by, either a lack of evidence,
or a lack of rigor in evidence used to create or review policies.
EIPM, therefore, requires systematic and transparent access to,
and appraisal of, evidence as part of the policymaking process.

Press Conference: Discussion Forum to be Hosted by ZeipNet in partnership with AEN

2016-02-05T01:59:00.001-08:00

Zimbabwe Evidence Informed Policy Network in partnership
with the African Evidence Network are to host a forum on the
national evidence infrastructure in Zimbabwe: Strengthening
the institutional landscape to support Evidence-Informed
Policy-Making. Crowne Plaza Monomotapa Hotel, Harare

ZeipNet Interview series - Interview with ZimOnline Media

2016-02-05T01:55:00.000-08:00

Published on Feb 4, 2016

Simbarashe Nyanhanga from ZimOnline News, a subsidiary

of Simba Media Incorporated interviews Zimbabwe Evidence

Informed Policy Network (ZeiNpet) officials Ronald Munatsi

and Gilchrist Ndongwe on Evidence Informed Policy Making

in Zimbabwe.This interview was done as a follow up to the

press conference held by ZeipNet on the 2nd of February 2016.

Policy Dialogue Workshop: An interview with Wahab Zakari, Ghana

2016-02-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

An interview with Wahab Zakari, Development Planning Officer, Agotime Ziope
District Assembly, Ghana) http://agotimeziope.ghanadistricts.gov.gh/
Agotime Ziope formerly Adaklu Anyibe is one of the twenty five (25) Municipalities
and Districts in the Volta Region of Ghana. The Administrative Capital of the District

is Kpetoe. Agotime-Ziope District is bordered by the Republic of Togo to the East;
Akatsi North and Central Tongu Districts to the South and the Adaklu District to the
West and North. The District covers a total land area of about Six Hundred and
Thirty-Seven kilometres square (637km2). Wahab talks about the opportunities
that exist for Agotime Ziope District to use evidence in decision making and
development planning, why he will recommend the course on evidence-informed
policy making to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
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 policy dialogue workshop held in Ho, Volta Region of
Ghana on 3rd November 2015. Editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Policy Dialogue: An interview with Felix Adom Boateng, Ghana

2016-02-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

An interview with Felix Adom Boateng, Development Planning Practitioner, Regional
Coordinating Council (Ho, Ghana) http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/about-ghana/regions/volta.
Volta Region is one of Ghana's ten administrative regions. It is to the east of Lake Volta. Its
capital is Ho. The Volta region of Ghana, lies to the east of the Volta lake. The region covers an area
of 20,570 square kilometres representing 8.6% of Ghana. Between latitudes 5° 45’N and 8°45’N.
Between the Volta Lake by the west and east by the Republic of Togo and south by the Atlantic Ocean.
20,570 sq. kilometers i.e. 8.6% of the total area of Ghana. The Region spans all the vegetational zones
of the country stretching from the Atlantic coast in the south to the north.
The region’s population in 2000 was 1,635,421. This implies, an increase of 35.0 per cent over the 1984
count 1,211,907, giving an annual growth rate of 1.9 per cent. The intercensal growth rate shows little
change from 2.0 per cent in 1970, 1.8 per cent in 1984 and 1.9 per cent in 2000. The population density
of the region increased from 59 persons per square kilometre in 1984 to 79.5 persons in 2000.
Felix talks about the roles that Regional Coordinating Council plays to ensure good development programmes,
the kind of evidence consumed for planning purposes and why he will recommend the course on evidence-informed
policy to Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies (MMDAs).
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 policy dialogue workshop held in Ho, Volta Region of Ghana on 3rd
November 2015. Editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Policy Dialogue Workshop: An interview with Abdulai Abdul Gafaru, Ghana

2016-02-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

An interview with Abdulai Abdul Gafaru, Internal Auditor, Ho Municipal Assembly,
Ghana http://ho.ghanadistricts.gov.gh/
Ho Municipal is one of the twenty five (25) Municipalities and Districts in the Volta
Region of Ghana. The Municipality is also the administrative capital of the People of
the Volta Region. The Municipality lies between latitudes 6 ᵒ 207N and 6 ᵒ55; N and
longitude 0 ᵒ 127 E and 0 ᵒ 53 E. The Municipality shares boundaries with the Republic
of Togo to the east, to the west with Ho West District, to the north with Hohoe Municipality
and to the south with Agotime–Ziope. Abdulai talks about the opportunities that exist for
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to use evidence in their
development planning, the role MMDAs play to ensure good development projects
within the municipality, the opportunities that exist for MMDAs to use evidence in
their development process and why he will recommend the course of evidence-informed
policy making course to all MMDAs.
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. Gafaru talks about the roles Metropolitan,
Municipal and District Assemblies play to ensure good development projects within the
municipality, Opportunities for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)
to use evidence and whether or not he will recommend the course on Evidence-informed
policy making (EIPM) to MMDAs.

This interview was filmed during the policy dialogue workshop held in Ho, Volta Region of
Ghana on 3rd November 2015. Editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Policy Dialogue, An interview with Johnson Addison, Ghana

2016-02-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

An interview with Johnson Addison, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Hope for
Future Generations, Ghana http://www.hffg.org/
Since 2001, HFFG has worked in close collaboration with her Donors and Implementing
Partners, national, regional, and district level stakeholders, communities, and other civil
society organisations to inform communities and thereby transform lives, achieving the
following in the process;
Established a reproductive health centre at Ekumfi Ekrowful in the Mfantseman East District
of the central region to improve access to quality maternal, neonatal, child health and primary
health care services to over 5,000 people in the facility’s catchment. Partnered the Ghana Health
Service (GHS) to revamp and also rehabilitate health centres in communities in the Ajumako
Enyan Essiam and Mfantseman districts of the central region.
Trained 50 Models of Hope to provide HIV related prevention, treatment, care and support services
to Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) across the central region of Ghana. Reached an average of 3,000
PLHIV with HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services annually since 2007 in the Central and
Brong Ahafo regions. Reached an average of 10,000 key population (Most at Risk Population) –sex
workers and non-paying partners with HIV prevention messages since 2010 in the Brong Ahafo region
of Ghana. Johnson talks about the extend to which Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies
(MMDAs) use evidence in project development planning, the opportunities that exist for MMDAs to
use evidence in project development planning and why he will recommend the course on evidence
informed policy making to MMDAs.

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 policy dialogue workshop held in Ho, Volta Region
of Ghana on 3rd November 2015. Editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Policy Dialogue Workshop: An interview with K. Tenasu Gbedemah, Ghana

2016-02-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

An interview with Tenasu Kofi Gbedemah, Voice Ghana, (Ho, Ghana) http://www.voiceghana.org
Volta Region is one of Ghana's ten administrative regions. It is to the east of Lake Volta. Its capital is Ho. The Volta region of Ghana, lies to the east of the Volta lake. The region covers an area of 20,570 square kilometres representing 8.6% of Ghana. Between latitudes 5° 45’N and 8°45’N. Between the Volta Lake by the west and east by the Republic of Togo and south by the Atlantic Ocean. 20,570 sq. kilometers i.e. 8.6% of the total area of Ghana. The Region spans all the vegetational zones of the country stretching from the Atlantic coast in the south to the north.
Voice of People with Disability Ghana (VOICE GHANA) is a registered nonprofit, Ghanaian non-governmental organization with Charity No: G -10, 042 and DSW/5710. The organisation was formed in 2002 by a small group of people with disability who had a vision to form an NGO managed and staffed by people with disabilities for the benefit of persons with all category of disabilities in the Volta Region and Ghana.
This philosophy continues to this day as VOICE GHANA has a policy of recruiting more persons with disabilities as Board and staff members. The organization was formerly known as VOLPHIG. This name was changed to VOICE GHANA in 2009 as a result of our strategic direction to transform the organization from a regional based NGO of people with disabilities to a national organization to work with all people with disabilities at the grassroots level in Ghana. Tenasu talks about the extend to which Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies use evidence in development planning and why he will recommend the course on evidence-informed policy making to MMDAs.
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 policy dialogue workshop held in Ho, Volta Region of Ghana on 3rd November 2015. Editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Evidence informed policy making: An interview with Dr. Joris Jerald Niilante Amissah, Ghana

2016-02-01T06:48:00.002-08:00

An interview with Dr. Joris Jerald Niilante Amissah, Lecturer, Family and Consumer
Sciences Department, University of Ghana (UG) www.ug.edu.gh . Jerald was one of
the External speakers/ facilitators at the Evidence-informed policy making training
for Parliament of Ghana staff.
The University of Ghana, the premier university and the largest university in Ghana
was founded as the University College of the Gold Coast by Ordinance on August 11, 1948
for the purpose of providing and promoting university education, learning and research.
As a University poised to distinguish itself in the area of research to make an impact at the
national and international level, the University has launched a new Strategic Plan.
Dr. Aissah talks about how knowledge of research design can benefit parliamentary staff and
also some factors to be considered in assessing research design of a piece of information.
The VakaYiko Consortium wwws.inasp.info/en/work/vakayiko/, a three year project working in
Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe to build the capacity of policy makers to access,
evaluate and use evidence in policy-making. This interview was filmed during Evidence informed
policy making training course for Parliament of Ghana staff held in Afienya, near Accra, Ghana
from 11th to 20th January 2016. Video and editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Evidence informed policy making - An interview with Dr. Isaac Frempong Mensa-Bonsu, Ghana

2016-02-01T06:42:00.001-08:00

An interview with Dr. Isaac Frempong Mensa-Bonsu, Director for Plan Coordination,
National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) https://www.ndpc.gov.gh/.
Dr. Mensa-Bonsu was one of the External speakers/ facilitators at the Evidence-informed
policy making training for Parliament of Ghana staff.
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) was established under
Articles 86 and 87 of the 1992 Constitution as part of the Executive. The National
Development Planning Commission Act, 1994, (Act 479) and the National Development
Planning (System) Act, 1994, (Act 480), provide the core legal framework for the establishment
of the Commission and the performance of its functions. (Other laws of relevance to the
Commission’s work are: the Local Government Act (Act 462) 1993; Local Government
Service Act (Act 656) 2003; Petroleum Revenue Management Act (Act 815) 2011; Civil
Service Act (PNDC Law 327) 1993; and Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund Act, (Act 877), 2014).
Dr. Mensa-Bonsu talks about the nature of policy making process in Ghana, the use of evidence in
Ghana's policy making process and the opportunities that exist for the use of research evidence in
the national policy making process in Ghana.
The VakaYiko Consortium wwws.inasp.info/en/work/vakayiko/, a three year project working in Ghana,
South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe to build the capacity of policy makers to access, evaluate and use
evidence in policy-making. This interview was filmed during Evidence informed policy making training
course for Parliament of Ghana staff held in Afienya, near Accra, Ghana from 11th to 20th January 2016.
Video and editing by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com

Knowledge café on evidence-informed policy-making in Zimbabwe

2015-12-14T03:10:00.004-08:00

There are examples of successful policies in Zimbabwe, informed by evidence. But, since independence, policymaking has largely been reactionary and ideologically driven. This has resulted in many policy inconsistencies and failures. The need to build institutional capacity to make informed policy decisions in Zimbabwe is especially urgent now, as Zimbabwe faces major economic challenges.

ZeipNET, in partnership with US Embassy Public Affairs Section Food for Thought series, hosted a knowledge cafe to provide a forum to discuss success stories, challenges and opportunities for evidence informed policy-making in Zimbabwe. Of particular note, the forum sought to obtain insight into what can be done to promote the routine use of evidence in policy-making processes in Zimbabwe.

The event took place 20 October 2015, in Harare.
Moderators: Ronald Munatsi and Gilchrist Ndongwe, ZeipNET
Speakers: Onesimo Maguwu, a public health expert from USAID; Charles Dhewa, a Knowledge Management Specialist from a local agro-based think-tank Knowledge Transfer Africa; and Grey Chivanda, a former policy maker from the ministry of higher and tertiary education, science and technology development.

Knowledge Café brings discusses policy formation in Zimbabwe

2015-10-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

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.
Click to read more

Source: INASP

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

2015-10-20T03:27:00.002-07:00

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

2015-10-19T05:40:00.001-07:00

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.

Click here to read more

Video interview explains how DFID is using evidence

2015-10-19T04:26:00.001-07:00

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

2015-09-29T04:35:00.003-07:00

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

2015-09-29T03:45:00.002-07:00

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

2015-09-29T03:43:00.000-07:00

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

Evidence informed policy making - An interview with Dr. Anthony Tsekpo, Ghana

2015-09-29T03:41:00.002-07:00

An interview with Dr. Antony Tsekpo, a Freelance Consultant, currently working
as Consultant for the European Union and also supporting the National Assembly
of Zambia. 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 Dr. Godfred Frempong (CSIR-STEPRI)

2015-09-29T03:40:00.001-07:00

An interview with Dr. Godfred Frempong, Deputy Director of Science and Technology
Policy Research Institute (CSIR-STEPRI) www.csir-stepri.org/index.php. Dr. Frempong
talks about the types of research available to policy-makers in Ghana, evidence used by
policy-makers in Ghana as well as challenges and opportunities to evidence-informed
policy-making in Ghana.

The Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) was established in 1987
under the (CSIR) to act as a focal point to articulate policy on national Science and
Technology (S&T) development. It was then known as the Technology Transfer Centre (TTC)
and as a multidisciplinary unit, dealing with issues of technology utilization, transfer and
development. http://www.csir-stepri.org/index.php. This interview was filmed during the
VakaYiko Consortium annual meeting 2015, held in Accra, Ghana. Video and editing
by Joseph -- joetigo@gmail.com