From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a global research and policy non-profit, has advocated the adoption of evidence-based approach to the issue of poverty and other factors responsible for slow pace of socioeconomic development in Nigeria.
The organization said that such approaches have proven to be effective in more than 20 countries of the world where it has been applied, thus suggesting that governments and other policy makers involve in the fight against poverty adopt such approach for improved results.
Country Director of IPA, Fummi Ayeni, highlighted the suggestions at the Nigeria Evidence Summit held in Abuja, on Wednesday.
She explained that the Summit was an inaugural event to share and discuss evidence and strategies to inform the policies and programmes of the government in social protection, education, and financial inclusion.
She said it was also an opportunity to deepen conversations by all stakeholders on different thematic areas that are key in the fight against poverty and human capital development.
She said: “Our desire is to have conversations that people can carry forward, conversation that will bring lasting changes in the lives of Nigerians. We have implemented over 10 projects in Nigeria since 2019 that we established our country office in Nigeria.
“The project portfolio include research projects in social inclusion, peace and recovery, post conflicts, COVID-19 response and financial inclusion. IPA is driven by the vision to build more evidence and less approach.
“IPA has worked with over 600 academics to conduct over 900 evaluations in more than 50 countries. Our studies cover solutions for effective agriculture, education, health, finance, governance, social protection, and post-conflict recovery.”
She confirmed that evidences that would be harvested at the Summit would be shifted to decision makers to enable them take proper steps towards improving the standard of the living of the people.
She added: “evidences suggest social-emotional skills can improve business outcomes and help close the gender gap in earnings between males and female small agribusiness owners.
“Similarly, we engaged in randomised evaluation of an intervention that encourages contact between farmers and herders in the middle belt region. The goal was to discern how the contact can reduce the incidences of violent conflict.”
IPA Chief Global Programme Officer, Claudia Casarrotto, in her remarks, emphasised that IPA has made impact globally as regards the fight against poverty and human capital development.
“Our impact is not only on the country office level. We often leverage on the global research to share knowledge and expertise. We share reliable evidence effectively with decision makers on how they could empower their people and improve their standard of living.
“The interesting part of our work is bringing together, practitioners, decision makers, and evidence lovers from various areas of human development, to share knowledge and experience on best way to improve the standard of living of Nigerians and other global citizens.
“The key suggestions that we offer our Country Offices is to have strong collaborations with the relevant authorities involved in human capital development and fight against poverty in each country. This will assist in the development of realistic policies and programmes, and not some sort of academic materials that won’t be useful to the people.”
Director General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, who was represented by Josiah Emereole, said that NAPTIP, being a data-driven Agency, recognizes the transformative power of evidence-based decision-making.
“We understand that our ability to combat human trafficking and provide support to victims hinges on ability to collect, analyse, and leverage data effectively. Through rigorous data collection methodologies and robust analytical frameworks, we strive to unravel the complexities of trafficking patterns, identify at-risk populations, and design interventions that safeguard the vulnerable as well as strengthen prosecution mechanisms.”
She restated that NAPTIP is deeply interested in the establishment of evidence embedded labs by IPA, a pioneering initiative that holds immense promise in enhancing data infrastructure and analytical capabilities. “The collaborative partnership between NAPTIP and IPA underscore our shared commitment to leveraging evidence to drive meaningful change and foster sustainable development,” she said.
She, however, reaffirmed the collective resolve to harness the power of data to advance the cause of social justice, equity, and inclusion, soliciting forge synergies, share insights, and catalyse actions towards a more prosperous and equitable future for all Nigerians.