Kenya: Parliament officials to graduate in evidence-informed policy-making
Event Date: 1 Aug 2016
Event Location: Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi

A unique graduation ceremony for officials from the National Assembly and the Senate who have completed a course in Evidence-Informed Policy-Making (EIPM) will be held on Monday, 1st August 2016 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi.

The ceremony will be hosted by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) and is expected to be presided over by Hon. Dr. Susan Musyoka, MP for Machakos County and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Caucus on Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (PC-EIDM). She will also issue those graduating with certificates. As part of the ceremony, the Parliament staff will make presentations of policy briefs on various socio-economic issues, that they have authored as part of the EIPM training.

Training of Parliament research staff on how to access, synthesise, appraise and utilise research evidence in policy-making was through the support of Strengthening Capacity to Use Research Evidence in Health Policy (SECURE Health) a programme implemented by a consortium led by AFIDEP.

The aim of the programme is to optimise individual and institutional capacity in accessing and utilising data and research evidence in decision-making in Kenya and Malawi.

The need for the training emerged after the SECURE Health Programme conducted a study on the status of evidence use for analysis within Parliament in 2014 and an evaluation exercise in 2015, both of which identified the need for such training. These assessments also showed the need for the formulation of standard guidelines for searching for evidence required for informing policy analysis and decision-making in Parliament.

In Kenya, the SECURE Health programme partners include the Ministry of Health, the Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR), FHI-360, and the East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC). The programme is funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID).