#AENis10: celebrating ten years of making EIDM a reality, together

Twenty-twenty-two marks ten years since the establishment of the Africa Evidence Network (AEN). The AEN is a Pan-African network of diverse people who share a vision of ending poverty and inequality in Africa through the use of evidence in decision-making.  

Remembering the founding of the Network, AEN Ten years ago, AEN chairperson and director of the Africa Centre for Evidence Professor Ruth Stewart shares how she never imagined ten years ago that the Network would grow to the scale it has. Although she confesses that, “deep down I always knew of the strength, commitment, resilience, and the brilliance of my evidence colleagues across the continent”.   

She continues: “The Africa Evidence Network would not be what it is today without each one of its members. It truly is a network of dedicated people actively working to support evidence-informed decision-making in Africa.” Throughout 2022, the AEN will be celebrating what it has become, what its members have achieved, and where they are headed.  

Through its usual offering, the AEN secretariat is planning to look back on the Network’s past successes, showcase its members’ present excellence, and dream about what the next ten years might look like. And it plans to invite all 3000-plus members to share their stories as part of that celebration: “There will be lots of opportunities for our members to contribute their stories to these celebrations; all you need to do is to get hold of the AEN secretariat via email to express your interest in sharing what being part of the network has meant to you”.

Reflecting on the Network’s tagline, Professor Stewart is confident that irrespective of the C19 pandemic, 2022 will be a year of proudly showing the world how only together can evidence-informed decision-making become a reality.

Reach out to the secretariat via email to be part of the celebration and be sure to follow #AENis10 on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest content.