Blog Post

There is growing recognition of the importance of evidence, particularly evidence from monitoring and evaluations, in national decision-making. In this process, parliamentarians and their staff play a crucial role in ensuring that evidence-based approaches are used for strengthening oversight, budgeting limited resources, legislation, capacity building, and policymaking across all sectors. However, concerns about the limited use of evidence in Africa that affect impacts of policies and progress has been noted in various platforms. 

There is power in using evidence to inform decisions and parliaments have a constitutional obligation to represent the people by articulating the views of citizens in decision-making processes. In the last two decades, different levels of democratization processes have been embraced by most countries in Africa and parliaments have become central to the continent’s development and the world. As women account for half the world’s population, gender mainstreaming in governance and parliaments across sub-Saharan Africa falls short.