Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena participated at the launch of the new project on “Tobacco Tax Reforms to Promote Economic Development in West Africa” which held in Dakar, Senegal on May 2, 2019. The project will be led by the Economics of Tobacco Control Project at the University of Cape Town in collaboration with the Consortium pour la recherche économique et sociale (CRES) Senegal. The goal of the research project is to assist member states in implementing the directive, by providing both regional analysis and in-depth diagnostic and economic modelling studies in three key countries: Nigeria, Senegal, and Ghana. The research will identify: ·     Best practices in tobacco taxation, focusing on the impact of tobacco tax increases on tobacco consumption, government tax revenue and industry pricing of tobacco products. ·        The economic impact of tobacco control policies ·        Policy barriers to fiscal measures ·        Financing mechanisms for tobacco control The project is part of the IDRC and CRUK Economics of Tobacco Control Research Initiative. CSEA is also conducting a research funded under the same initiative.

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) convened its Sixth Africa Think Tank Summit under the theme “Tackling Implementation Challenges for Africa’s Sustainable Development”.The event was organized in partnership with the Government of Kenya and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA). The summit provided a platform for participants to propose strategies and actionable recommendations that would enable think tanks contribute to tackling policy implementation challenges within the context of Africa’s vision as reflected in Agenda 2063 and the SDGs, through sharing knowledge and country case studies on good practices in ensuring successful implementation of policies and strategies.Specifically, the summit aimed to increase the dissemination of knowledge on implementation and development issues pertinent to Africa, understand the challenges and available solutions for the effective implementation of policies. Dr. Adedeji Adeniran was a discussant on the session that discussed tackling implementation challenges at the national level. While various solutions have been proffered to improve the implementation landscape in Africa there is the need for better data, monitoring and evaluation, synergy and coordination. CSEA Research Associate Joseph Ishaku joined other OTT-TTI fellows at a side event to discuss and propose actionable recommendations on how think tanks in Africa can help bridge the policy design and implementation gap. The summit took place April 24-26, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya.  

Following the outcome of the results of the regional consultations on the health-related SDGs by the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), in June 2017, the West African Ministers of Health, recommended that WAHO support the construction of a regional coalition responsible for monitoring the implementation of the SDGs and regularly reporting on progress. In this perspective, WAHO has joined the Senegalese Agricultural and Rural Foresight Initiative (IPAR) to explore ways to contribute to monitoring progress in implementing health-related SDGs at national and regional levels. With support from IDRC, IPAR would conduct three case studies in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Senegal with the aim of: (i) Identifying indicators common to these countries to initiate a more harmonized monitoring approach in the West African region; (ii) Examining the availability of data for the relevant indicators; (iii) Working with key civil society organizations (CSOs) to analyze their involvement in monitoring health-related SDGs ; and (iv) Proposing approaches to improve the national and regional monitoring of identified indicators. IPAR convened participants under the leadership of WAHO at a regional workshop in Dakar on April 15-16, 2019. Participants include representatives of the Ministries of Health of 15 West African countries, think tank and university researchers, representatives of civil society as well as other technical and financial partners. The workshop provided a platform to share the results of the regional synthesis, discuss proposed indicators, analyze in depth the availability of data for the selected indicators, specify the nature of the data and establish the baseline. CSEA’s Research Director on health Dr. Chinny Ogunro contributed to In-depth discussions on the results of the case studies.

 

CSEA participated at the side-event hosted by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) on Advancing Frontier Research on South South and Triangular Cooperation. The event was held along the side-lines of the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40).

The objective of the side-event was to share evidence-based research on South-South and triangular cooperation that has been commissioned by the South-South Global Thinkers initiatives.

CSEA, represented by Dr. Adedeji Adeniran, launched its research paper titled “South-South Ideas: South-South Cooperation Coherence in a Complex Assistance Framework for Development – The Case of Nigeria (2019)” at the event.

Bascially, the meeting was organised to contribute to the growing body of evidence and knowledge on issues pertinent to South-South cooperation to better inform global policy dialogues and agenda setting on SSC.

Click here to download the full report.

CSEA senior research fellow, Dr. Grace Onubedo and Research fellow, Precious Akanonu, participated in the Economics of Tobacco Control learning workshop organized by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in partnership with the Cancer Research United Kingdom (CRUK). The workshop was aimed at supporting collaborative research learning and practice in the economics of tobacco control for the prevention of tobacco-induced non-communicable diseases. It provided a platform for seven research teams from across the world to discuss strategies in an effort to tackle the global tobacco epidemic. Specifically, it provided an opportunity for peer learning and community building across project teams and also strengthen project approaches for successful research communication and policy engagement. It also aimed to improve understanding of how gender analysis can be integrated into the economics of tobacco control research. The workshop was held from 19-21 February 2019, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, London.