NIERA at Evidence to Action 2026
“Reimagining the Evidence-Informed Policy and Decision-Making Ecosystem in Africa”
Accra, Ghana · 24–26 June 2026 · ISSER Hall, University of Ghana, Legon
By Derick Oluoch, Program Officer, NIERA
Above. NIERA in Accra — from left: Sani Saeed (Policy Fellow), Derick Oluoch (Program Officer) and Yahaya Musa (Policy Fellow).
Evidence to Action (E2A) 2026 brought policymakers, researchers and evaluation practitioners to Accra from 24 to 26 June, following two pre-conference days on 22 and 23 June. The International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) convened the meeting at the ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana, Legon, hosted by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER).
The program was built around one question: what does an Africa-led evidence ecosystem look like, and what has to change to get there. Caroline Fiennes of Giving Evidence opened Day 1 on evidence-informed models that have shown impact in Africa. Dr. Julius Muia gave a key note address on Day 2 on the mechanics of how and why evidence translates into results. On Day 3, H.E. Mohamed Béavogui, former Prime Minister of Guinea, spoke to what an Africa-led evidence-to-action ecosystem would take. The roundtables and labs put county officials, parliamentary staff, funders and researchers in the same discussions, which is the environment NIERA’s decision-focused evaluations are built for. NIERA extended invitations to Apollo Maima and Alebel B. Weldesilassie to present findings from NIERA-funded research, as well as to Sani Saeed and Yahaya Musa, who are NIERA Policy Fellows.
NIERA’s Demand Driven Research Studies
Principal Investigator, Apollo Maima disseminated findings from NIERA’s research study titled “the Measles Rubella Vaccine Vial Impact Evaluation from Kenya”. The study looked at a decision frontline health worker make every clinic day. Measles-rubella (MR) vaccine comes in multi-dose vials, so opening one for a single child who has arrived means the remaining doses may go to waste if no one else comes. Waiting for more children risks turning a child away unvaccinated. The evaluation tracked how that trade-off between open-vial wastage and coverage plays out in routine immunization, drawing on monitoring across counties including Kiambu, Vihiga and Homa Bay.
Apollo Maima presents findings from the MR Vaccine Vial Impact Evaluation.
“The Chief Officer for Health called the evaluation timely and said he is looking forward to the endline findings and the final report.”
Vihiga County, one of the study sites.
Principal Investigator, Alebel B. Weldesilassie presented findings from another one of NIERA’s studies titled the “Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) Impact Evaluation from Ethiopia”. Ethiopia’s CBHI scheme extends prepayment health coverage to rural households and the informal sector, groups that sit outside formal employment-based insurance.
Using a randomized control trial with 1400 poor and vulnerable urban households, the evaluation examined what CBHI is delivering in practice — how households enrolled and whether they renewed, whether membership changed the way people use health services, and how far the scheme protected families from out-of-pocket costs when illness strikes.
Exhibition Booth
NIERA’s exhibition booth displayed dissemination materials from work on other Demand Driven Research Studies, including the HIV Self-Testing Uptake and Impact Evaluation in Kenya and Tanzania, the Problem Gambling among Youth Evaluation in Kenya and Uganda, the Parish Development Model and Urban Poverty Evaluation in Uganda, and the Youth Employment in Kenya’s Creative Sector Study. The booth also provided information on NIERA’s Impact Academy, Policy Fellowship and the networks approach to translating evidence to policy in Africa.
At the table. From right Derick Oluoch and Yahaya Musa at NIERA’s dissemination table, with the study policy briefs and Impact Academy on display.
Beyond the Sessions
The conference also made room for the team to meet outside the sessions. The delegation gathered for a group dinner in Accra — a chance to compare notes on the presentations, discussing scaling of the research studies and the connections made.
Team dinner, Accra. From left: Yahaya Musa, Jennifer Nyakinya and Sani Saeed; on the right, Derick Oluoch, Apollo Maima and Alebel B. Weldesilassie.