A new initiative from The University of Johannesburg (UJ) hopes to alleviate poverty with the Africa Centre for Evidence (ACE). The Centre, which will officially launch on the 9th, will gather UJ students, faculties, and experts and more to help innovate evidence-informed solutions to reduce poverty and inequality.
“The Africa Centre for Evidence combines cutting-edge research with policy engagement to enhance the role of social policy in reducing poverty and promoting opportunity, economic security, and individual and family wellbeing,” says Professor Ruth Stewart, Director of the Africa Centre for Evidence at UJ and chairperson of the Africa Evidence Network.
The Centre identifies five main determinants of the reduction of poverty through the following themes: Producing useful research evidence; supporting others to produce useful research evidence; supporting and understanding the use of research evidence in decision-making; being responsive to contexts and needs in Africa; and supporting evidence communities.
“We support a network of over 1200 people from across the continent with an interest in evidence-informed decision-making, because we believe that only together can we make a difference. We are increasingly recognised as global leaders in policy-relevant research methodologies: specifically evidence mapping and evidence synthesis as means to produce structured and reliable summaries of knowledge for decision-makers,” explains Professor Stewart.
“We aim to increase our own understanding through research of how to enhance capacity to use research evidence,” concluded Professor Stewart.
