Partnerships for stronger knowledge systems in Africa (KNOSA)

In many countries, research evidence is insufficiently used and disconnected from policy-making. Recent literature shows that the dominant paradigms of knowledge translation, integration and brokering still continue to focus efforts on individuals instead of institutions; research generation instead of the political economy of evidence and knowledge; and that the scholarship from low- and middle-income countries remains lean.

To address these challenges, the Alliance is supporting a small set of partnerships among policy and research institutions in East African countries. These partnerships will increase capacities to develop and strengthen institutional mechanisms, cultures, incentive structures and trusted relationships, to better enable the generation and use of locally-relevant evidence in policy-making processes.

Objectives

• Establish institutional partnerships between a set of African research and policy institutions, and build research-to-policy networks across regional institutions;
• Generate new knowledge and practice on institutional approaches for research evidence use to strengthen national knowledge systems, and improve local evidence-informed policy and practice;
• Increase scholarship on meso- and macro-level capacity strengthening in LMICs, by documenting and disseminating learning on capacity mechanisms for strengthening knowledge systems, both for global audiences and local practice.