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This year, the AEN is hosting its fourth virtual Africa Evidence Week with the aim of building on the momentum of previous Evidence Week’s and creating an even more inclusive, interactive and connected experience.
The goal is to showcase the diversity and dynamism of Africa’s evidence ecosystem by reflecting on how African-led decisions create meaningful impact through evidence, with the theme “Evidence that Moves Africa: Turning African Decisions into African Impact”. This highlights the importance of championing African evidence that is fluid, adaptive and responsive.
The Africa Evidence Network (AEN) was established in 2012 as a pan-African community of over 6600 members. The AEN is celebrating 14 years, and it is open to all who live and work on the continent. It is unique in its inclusivity and diversity in six broad dimensions. It spans i) all countries in Africa; ii) all sectors across the Sustainable Development Goals; iii) all spheres, including government, academia, civil society, citizens, and all intermediaries; iv) the full diversity of roles within these spheres from members of parliaments to program managers to researchers; v) all elements of the evidence production and use cycle, from the generation of evidence to its integration into policy and implementation; and vi) all types of evidence from administrative data, to evaluations of all kinds, to experimental research, to citizen experiences and systematic syntheses of primary studies.
Its strategic goals are to foster collaboration among those engaged in or supporting evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) in Africa, increase knowledge and understanding of EIDM, share capacities across the EIDM ecosystem, improve the enabling context by promoting EIDM in Africa, and advocate for Africa’s full voice and participation in the national, regional, and global movements to increase EIDM.
Africa Evidence Week (AfEW) was launched in 2019 as a platform to celebrate, promote and strengthen EIDM across Africa. Initially conceived by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), evidence weeks have become a popular feature amongst the global EIDM community.
Over the years, AfEW has consistently featured contributions from a diverse range of stakeholders (e.g. researchers, policymakers, practitioners, students, civil society, funders etc.) across different sectors, that aim to connect, share experiences and showcase African evidence.
The last three iterations of AfEW have seen a total of 266 activities being championed by over 35 organisations in the African evidence space.
As Africa’s evidence ecosystem continues to evolve, there is an increasing need for spaces that promote meaningful connection, exchange, collaboration and action, and AfEW provides an opportunity to bring visibility to the diverse evidence journeys and perspectives into one shared continental space.
This year, the AEN is hosting its fourth virtual Africa Evidence Week with the aim of building on the momentum of previous Evidence Week’s and creating an even more inclusive, interactive and connected experience. The goal is to showcase the diversity and dynamism of Africa’s evidence ecosystem by reflecting on how African-led decisions create meaningful impact through evidence, with the theme “Evidence that Moves Africa: Turning African Decisions into African Impact”. This highlights the importance of championing African evidence that is fluid, adaptive and responsive.
Africa Evidence Week 2026 aims to:
1. Showcase the breadth and impact of EIDM across Africa.
2. Celebrate the individuals and organisations strengthening the evidence ecosystem.
3. Amplify African innovations and success stories in evidence use.
4. Inspire evidence champions and young, emerging leaders in EIDM.
5. Promote learning and collaboration across sectors, countries and regions.
African organisations within the EIDM ecosystem are invited to contact the AEN to propose pre-recorded content they would like to contribute during AfEW. The AEN will then get in touch to share the relevant templates highlighting the required information for the type of content the participant wants to promote. The only screening criteria to be upheld by participants in AfEW 2026 is that all content related to the week should remain free of charge and relevant to the EIDM ecosystem in Africa. Other than that, there will be no application or screening of content done by the AEN. Participants can choose from the list of suggested activities below or suggest alternative activities that better fit their needs. We especially encourage content that fits with this year’s theme of “Evidence that Moves Africa: Turning African Decisions into African Impact”.
The list of suggested content includes:
· Pre-recorded webinars (60-90 minutes)
· Live Twitter chats
· Live Instagram or Tik Tok Evidence Fireside Chats
· Video content (e.g. interviews, documentaries, short films)
· Evidence Through Art and/or Photography Showcase (including digital art)
· Written or pre-recorded Stories of Change (including stories of impact, storytelling performances, poetry, original songs)
· Media articles
· Publications (e.g. reports, toolkits, guidelines etc.)
· Launches
There will also be a range of activities that take place throughout the week aimed at encouraging connection and collaboration amongst members across different countries, sectors and stakeholder groups.
Participating in AfEW 2026 is open to all members of the AEN - whether newly joined or long-established. Participating in AfEW 2026 means agreeing to:
· Coordinate your own content and share required information timeously with the relevant AEN programme officer.
· Obtain institutional permission and agreement to participate in and represent your organisation/s during AfEW.
· Share content you are legally entitled to distribute.
To participate in AfEW 2026 or to find out more information, please email the AEN secretariat at info@africaevidencenetwork.org.
The first Africa Evidence Week (AfEW) took place in 2019 showcasing over 64 incredible EIDM activities across the continent with the support of 31 African organisations from 14 African countries. Some of the continent’s EIDM leaders and organisations participated in the first AfricaEvidence Week designed as a virtual celebration of Africa’s EIDM.
The second AfricaEvidence Week (AfEW) took place in 2021; the programme for the week consisted of 104 activities, including live webinar events, pre-recorded webinars, blogs, Twitter conversations/resources shared, stories of change, and EIDM emerging leader videos arranged by 37 organisations from 11 African countries. Over 900 people from across Africa attended live webinar events hosted by fifteen organisations during the week. Videos were one of the most popular ways that organisations participated in Africa Evidence Week with twenty-five videos posted during the five days. Twitter conversations promoted the sharing of EIDM resources, such as reports and stories of change. This increased engagement and interaction on Twitter, and as a result, the #AfricaEvidenceWeek hashtag attracted three hundred and ninety-nine online participants from 15 different countries representing 91 organisations, reaching over 6 million people on Twitter. The third AfricaEvidence Week (AfEW) 2024 objective is to showcase and promote the state of EIDM on the continent, specifically highlighting the contribution of young and emerging leaders in African EIDM.
The third Africa Evidence Week aimed to showcase and promote the state of evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) on the continent, specifically highlighting the contribution of young and emerging leaders in African EIDM. It took place from 19 to 23 August; the programme for the week consisted of over 100 activities, including one pre-recorded webinar; three EIDM stories; seven publications; eight live online events (with presentations); twenty-four Twitter (X) chats; twenty-six blogs; and twenty-nine videos. Videos were one of the most popular ways organisations participated in Africa Evidence Week, with twenty-nine videos posted during the five days. Twitter discussions encouraged the distribution of EIDM materials, including case studies and reports. The #AfricaEvidenceWeek hashtag attracted over 1600 online participants as a result of the increased conversation and engagement on the platform. On Twitter, we had 74,000 impressions, 7,400 engagements and 2,000 likes.
Publications
Blogs
Videos
Live online events
Twitter chats
EIDM stories
Pre-recorded webinar
Participants
Participants
"Only together can evidence-informed decision-making become a reality in Africa."
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