The Evidence to Action 2019 Conference was held at the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER) in Accra, Ghana. The conference provided a platform for African producers and users of evidence to interact, share experiences and plan for future work together. It offered a forum for renowned research and evaluation professionals, and development practitioners from national, regional and international organisations of diverse disciplines who have used research and evaluation for effective and impactful policy making and action to have discourse and exchange their experiences. The conference promoted dialogue among these stakeholders and provided an opportunity for charting a way forward for enhanced impact in research and evaluation.
The idea of using evidence to inform policy reforms is not new. As far back as ancient Greece, Aristotle put forward the notion that different kinds of knowledge should inform rulemaking. This would ideally involve a combination of scientific knowledge, pragmatic knowledge and value-led knowledge. What is new and interesting in Africa, however, is the increasing emphasis that has been placed on the use of evidence to inform police development and implementation.
On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Over the next fifteen years, with these universally applicable Goals, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.
Evidence Generation, Dissemination and Use to Improve Africa’s Policy Reforms and Sustainable Development Agenda is a two-pronged proposition. It is the responsibility of policy makers and development professionals to demand solid, rigorous and sound evidence while remaining accountable for decisions made and allocated resources. It is also the responsibility of researchers and evaluators to supply well documented and systematically reviewed evidence and be accountable to present research and evaluation results and findings in a timely, formatted and comprehensible manner for effective decision making that “meets the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The conference theme was “Responsibility and Accountability: Strengthening Evidence Generation, Dissemination and Use to Improve Africa’s Policy Reforms and Sustainable Development Agenda.’’ The central themes of the conference included:
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