…………..HOLDS INAUGURAL EVIDENCE SUMMIT
IN ABUJA
BY
CLEMENT NSONG
ABUJA
In what appears to be a deliberate
effort aimed at assisting policymakers to ameliorate the prevailing economic hardship
and other challenges through evidence, Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA) has organized
a Nigeria Evidence Summit with crème la crème of State and Non – non-state
actors in attendance.
The one-day summit with the theme “Translating
Emerging Evidence for Impact”, was held at the Ballroom of the Fraser Suite,
Central Business District, Abuja and it was an inaugural event designed to
share and discuss evidence and strategies to inform the policies and programs
of the current administration in social protection, education, and financial
inclusion.
Speaking at the opening of the
Summit, the Country Director, IPA Nigeria, Funmi Ayeni, said “The Summit was
organized to provide a platform where people can come together to have a conversation
around our thematic areas. We have three thematic areas, Social Protection,
Financial Inclusion, and Education for the summit. However, IPA works across
more areas.
“What we are trying to do together is
to make sure that we have conservation that people can carry forward that will
lead to lasting change and impact in Nigeria.
“So, we will have presentations and
we will have panel speakers, and some of the leading voices in each of the
thematic areas will speak about the work they have done and more importantly
how to apply the evidence that we are sharing to actual decision making and policymaking
in Nigeria.
“At the end of this summit, we are
hoping that people will carry this conversation forward and that will continue
to advance the course of Nigeria and how to bring about lasting change and
impact using evidence”, the IPA Country Director said.
On the emerging economic challenges
across the Country, the IPA Director said the organization is already having a
consultation with policymakers and the relevant line Ministries, departments,
and Agencies on how to effectively achieve the desired goal using tangible
evidence.
In her speech, the Chief Global
Programmes Officer of IPA, Claudia Casarrotto, said the organization is 20
years old and its impact in meeting the needs of the global community in the
areas of providing evidence to solve pressing issues, is global.
She said. “We leverage the research that
we work on across the globe, to adapt learning and bring knowledge to various countries.
So, one of the big parts of our work is to share knowledge and share evidence
effectively with decision-makers across the globe.
“We have the vision of a better world
where decisions are informed by data and evidence to have the most impact possible.
And we are grateful that many of you in this summit share this vision and have
actively collaborated to build a world with more evidence and less poverty.
“IPA is 20 years old now and in the
past two decades, the body of evidence has grown tremendously, and the
boundaries of what can be studied rigorously have been pushed, with now
rigorous evidence being generated in areas like conflict and violence, human
trafficking or consumer protection”, she said.
In her speech, the Director General
of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP)
Prof. Fatima Waziri – Azi, Ph.D., said the Summit was a pivotal platform
designed to share and deliberate on robust evidence and experiences that can
significantly shape the policies and orgrammes of government at all levels.
The NAPTIP Director General who was
represented by the Director, Research and Programme Development, Mr. Josiah
Emerole, stated “I am aware of the strategic role that data plays in programming
for social protection, education, and financial inclusion. Data serves as the cornerstone
upon which effective policies and programs are built, enabling us to identify
vulnerabilities, assess needs, and tailor interventions that yield meaningful
impact.
“I must state here that NAPTIP is
deeply working on the establishment of evidence-embedded labs with IPA, a pioneering
initiative that holds immense promise in enhancing our data infrastructure and
analytical capabilities. The collaborative partnership between NAPTIP and IPA
underscores our shared commitment to leveraging evidence to drive meaningful change
and foster sustainable development”, she said.
There were panel discussions and presentations
on Financial Inclusion, Education as well as Social Protection in which
seasoned experts and highly rated resource Persons participated.
A cross section of participants at
the Summit which had an impressive attendance, commended IPA for the summit
describing it as timely given the global challenges that have put all policymakers
on the hot seat.
Dignitaries at the highly rewarded
Summit include line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Representatives
of some selected States in Nigeria, financial experts, representatives of donor
Agencies, representatives of other development partners, other stakeholders,
and media partners.
IPA Nigeria was established in 2019
and it has operations in 12 states.
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