Africa LEEPS aims to advance the use of evidence in policymaking to support progress towards the SDGS. The partnership brings together leading evidence organizations from across Africa to learn from each other, exchange knowledge and experiences, and jointly problem solve – to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking and accelerate progress towards the SDGs.

Africa LEEPS strengthens the evidence-to-policy process in sub-Saharan Africa, taking an integrated ecosystem approach at the country-level that fosters deep connections and effective collaboration between researchers, knowledge brokers, and policymakers.

Technical capacity strengthening and policy engagement activities are led by three initiatives: the Centre of Excellence Evidence Policy Action established by the African Center for Equitable Development (ACED), the East African Regional Evidence Synthesis Initiative established by the Centre for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES) and Alliance for Evidence and Equity in Policy-making in Africa established by the African Institute for Policy Development (AFIDEP). Each initiative is developing and testing different approaches for promoting equitable use of evidence in policymaking with a focus on strengthening capacity and building vibrant country-level evidence networks.

The three initiatives are designed to support knowledge translation efforts, documenting how these efforts are influencing policy or program change, and building an evidence base for the most effective approaches.