Launch of the Community of Practice on Citizen Engagement in Evidence-Informed Decision-Making in the Health Sector

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in collaboration with the Africa Evidence Network (AEN) and Cochrane, is launching a Community of Practice (CoP) on Citizen Engagement in Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (CE-EIDM) in the health sector. The first virtual meeting will take place on 6 November 2024, from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm SAST.

This CoP aims to strengthen the role of citizen engagement in shaping health policies, addressing a gap in the field of evidence-informed decision-making where research evidence has often taken precedence over citizen input. Through this initiative, WHO and its partners seek to create a collaborative space for participants of the CoP to enhance their capacity to promote citizen engagement in health and health-related policy processes.

The virtual event will feature a presentation by Sandy Oliver, Co-Director of the Evidence for Policy & Practice Information Centre at the UCL Social Research Institute, on evidence-informed policy-making as an inclusive endeavour: state of the art and trending debates. Participants will also be introduced to the CoP’s objectives, develop a shared vision, and discuss next steps.

The meeting is open to anyone, and we encourage professionals working on or interested in citizen engagement and evidence-informed decision-making to join and participate in this important initiative.

The agenda for the first meeting is available here. To register for the meeting by 1 November 2024, please use this link.

For more information on the CoP, please contact the WHO team at EIDM@who.int.