Thirty-five researchers and policymakers from 12 countries will gather in Accra from October 5 for a two-day symposium to discuss approaches to help shape policy making in their respective countries.

A broad array of stakeholders and thought leaders from government, NGOs, think tanks and Vaka Yiko partners will review current best practices, demonstrate new and innovative approaches to evidence-informed policy making.

Evidence-informed policy making is the use of evidence in policy making and aims to increase the uptake and use of research evidence in policy making.

Both speakers and participants will share experiences, challenges and solutions to building capacity for evidence-informed policy making during the two days which will take place at the Coconut Grove Hotel.

The symposium marks the end of a three-year Vaka Yiko project in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe that was geared towards building capacity to use research evidence in policy making.

Vaka Yiko project was funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the Building Capacity for Use of Research Evidence (BCURE) programme.

A special focus on evidence-informed policy-making in Ghana will be hosted by the Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS) on the last day of the symposium.

It seeks to explore opportunities for improving evidence use in Ghana’s policy-making processes and promote networking among different stakeholders.

Themed “Approaches to Capacity Building for EIPM: VakaYiko Symposium 2016,” topics to be discussed includes taking a systemic approach to getting knowledge in policy, approaches to building networks for evidence use, public engagement and co-creation, evidence informed scrutiny in parliaments, approaches to training for evidence-informed policy making and contextual factors affecting the use of evidence in policy.

Speakers are Ghana’s Chief of Staff, Julius Debra, George Amoah from the Civil Society Training Centre of Ghana, Christine Mafoko of Zimbabwean Parliament Research Department, Cosmas Ochieng  of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Kenya, and Enrique Mendizabal  of the Peruvian Alliance for Useful Evidence.

The rest are John Bagonza, Parliament of Uganda Department of Research Services, Leandro Echt from Politics and Ideas in Latin America, MapulaTshangela from the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa, Mohammed Nyagsi Parliament of Ghana Research Department and Stephen Baguma Uganda National Academy of Sciences.

By 3news.com|Ghana|