Civil Service, GINKS launch capacity building course

The Civil Service Training Centre, in collaboration with the Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS), had launched a course to build the capacity of civil servants.

Dubbed: “Evidence-Informed Policy Making,” the course would provide participants with the requisite skills to respond to time-sensitive requests for information and evidence to inform public decisions.

Participants of the course will gain the capacity to consider a broad range of research issues; from citizens, political realities to debates and other stakeholders.

The course is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, under the Building Capacity for Use of Research Evidence (B-CURE) programme.

The B-CURE focuses on strengthening the demand for research evidence in public policy-making processes.

Nana K.Dwamena Agyekum, Acting Head of the Civil Service, said the initiative has come at a good time, because the course will leverage the technology needed to access the information, and facilitate policy formulation.

Nana Agyekum said evidence-informed policy-making has been a subject of concern, and that development efforts are channeled into assisting governments to pursue policies that are based on research evidence.

He explained that evidence-based programs provide ideal model for information, adds value, and create powerful partnerships with other organizations, including health care providers.

Nana Agyekum said the course will impact positively on the quality of policy options that are provided to government for the country's socio-economic development.

He said the course will also give effective programs to government for better policy formulation policy for better implementation, since it is more of a democratic process.

He said some of the courses, including introduction to the use of evidence; a strategy to search for evidence efficiently, sources of evidence, research methods and effective use and communication of evidence.

Mr. Ibrahim Inusah, Executive Secretary of GINKS said the routine use of research evidence to inform policy making, requires three factors to be in place; individuals with the skills to access, evaluate and use research information; processes for handling research evidence in policy making departments; and a facilitating environment that identifies and responds appropriately to research uptake needs.

Mr. Inusah said in response to the DFID call, the Vaka Yiko consortium International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications leads a consortium, of which GINKS is a partner to implement B-CURE in three African countries, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ghana.

He said Vaka Yiko aims to create an impact of better formulated and implemented policies and processes as a result of increased access, evaluation, scrutiny and use of research evidence in partner countries.

Mr. Ibrahim Amidu Tanko, Programme Manager of STAR Ghana, pointed out that evidence-based research is imperative and not an option, because it allows for effective policy-making.

He called for collaboration between strategic institutions to design, develop and roll out relevant innovative courses, to produce evidence research for effective implementation.