The Africa Evidence Network (AEN) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) will host the Evidence 2018 conference which will take place from 25-28 September 2018.
The Evidence 2018 conference keynote will be opened by Mr Mark Heywood, Executive Director of SECTION27. SECTION27 is a public interest law center that seeks to influence, develop and use the law to protect, promote and advance human rights.
Mr Heywood has written extensively on HIV, human rights and the law, including co-editing the HIV/AIDS and the Law Resource Manual and Health & Democracy: A guide to human rights, health law and policy in post-Apartheid South Africa. He has been part of the legal teams of the AIDS Law Project and the Treatment Action Campaign that have been involved in all the major litigation around HIV and human rights in South Africa.
“The invitation to be a plenary speaker is a chance to connect the dots between the scientific and activist communities. It is an opportunity to talk about how activism in South Africa has used evidence, and the issues on which it must continue to do so in future”, says Mark Heywood.
Evidence 2018 conference is Africa’s leading platform for promoting the use of evidence amongst decision-makers in Africa. The conference attracts researchers, data specialists, evaluators, M&E officers, knowledge brokers, public servants, government officials, members of civil society, and students from across the continent. The aim of the conference is to provide a common platform for understanding evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) in Africa by sharing, learning and advancing discussions in how best to support EIDM in Africa.
The conference will cover the broad themes of engagement with one another within the evidence ecosystem; understanding of evidence and how it can make a difference; and look at the impact on decision-making and on priorities in our region. This year’s conference considers these themes in relation to good governance, communicable diseases, quality education, and climate resilience.
Delegates can look forward to pre-congress sessions hosted by local and international industry organisations such as the Human Sciences Research Council from South Africa, the African Evaluation Association from Ghana, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) based in India, South Africa’s Department for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Africa Centre for Evidence at the University of Johannesburg, International Development Research Centre from Canada and Results for All an initiative of Results for America from the United States of America.
The Evidence 2018 programme has an impressive line-up of thought leaders in the field of EIDM from around the world. It features a rich and exciting array of presentations and activities about all facets of evidence based practices that will be of interest to professionals and organisations in the field of EIDM. The conference will have 8 satellite sessions, 4 training workshops, 20 landscape maps & oral poster presentations and 17 plenary presentations from local and international speakers.
Evidence 2018, will take place at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria from 25-28 September 2018. Regular registration is open until 18 September 2018.
