…………..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.