By Dorothy Musyoka
In a significant step towards addressing reproductive health issues, the Ministry of health has received specialized training on evidence and gender inclusion in policy-making processes.
In a significant step towards addressing reproductive health issues, the Ministry of Health has received specialized training on evidence and gender inclusion in policy-making processes.
This initiative, led by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) aims to tackle persistent challenges such as preventable maternal deaths and adolescent pregnancies.
An event held in Machakos town brought together health ministry officials working in reproductive and maternal health.
According to Dr.Violet Murunga, a Research and Policy Analyst at AFIDEP, the objective is to equip the officials with the skills to synthesize and apply evidence in policymaking, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of their interventions.
“ The project aims to help African Countries to accelerate the country achieving the SDGs through training government officials to embed capacities in using evidence for decision making,” Dr. Murunga explained.
Despite the recognized importance of evidence-informed decision-making, the health sector continues to face significant barriers.
The barriers include a lack of collaboration between policymakers and evidence producers, untimely and irrelevant data, insufficient gender and social inclusion metrics and limited capacity for evidence application.
However, Dr.Murunga highlighted additional challenges such as inadequate resources and poor enforcement systems which hinder effective decision making emphasizing the need for increased investment in data and research to overcome these obstacles.
“The Ministry of Health values using evidence in decision making but they are challenged with the resources they have and so they are not putting as much into that area as they are into addressing illnesses, but if they are to invest more in data and research, they can make a decision that can utilize those resources they have more efficiently,” added Dr.Murunga.
The training program also addressed the energy sector where Dr.Mutunga advocated for exploring clean cooking options to mitigate environmental threats like deforestation.
The initiative aims to bridge the gap between evidence production and policy implementation, fostering timely and relevant decisions.
Spanning two years, the project seeks to enhance the capacity for rapid evidence reviews and promote collaboration at national and regional levels.
By focusing on evidence-based decision making and gender inclusion, this training is poised to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.