Policy Engagement and Communications

One of APHRC's strategic objectives is to promote utilization of empirical evidence for policy formulation and program improvement through targeted and sustained sharing of research findings and engaging policy makers throughout the research process.

The Center also seeks to play a central role in defining key research issues and influencing international policies on issues relevant to sub-Saharan Africa by participating actively in international meetings and technical panels that discuss various research, development, and capacity strengthening issues relating to the continent.
APHRC uses four main methods in its policy engagement and communication efforts. These are:

• Collaborations & Networking
• Mass Media 
• Publications
• Workshops/Meetings 
• Working Groups  

Collaborations

APHRC has established collaborations with relevant policy agencies in some of its research programs to ensure that policy makers are involved in the projects from the beginning to the end. This has made it much easier for APHRC to inform policy through direct dialoguing with policy makers.

Collaboration with the City Council of Nairobi: APHRC's research on urbanization and wellbeing highlights the need to work closely with the City Council of Nairobi, which is charged with the responsibility of providing social and infrastructural services to Nairobi residents. APHRC has collaborated with the Council on a number of projects including:

• The Nairobi Urban Health and Poverty Partnership (NUHPP), which sought to determine cost-effective strategies for addressing the health and livelihood needs of the poor residents of Nairobi City, and export lessons from the Nairobi experience to other sub-Saharan African countries with similar urbanization patterns. This project ended in 2006.
• The construction of toilets for slum residents in Nairobi funded by the World Toilet Association (WTA).

Collaboration with the National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development (NCAPD) - The NCAPD is the Government of Kenya (GoK) agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of the population policy. Consequently, this is a very important body for APHRC to work with if it is to influence population policy and programs in Kenya. APHRC has and continues to implement a number of programs and activities in collaboration with the NCAPD. These have included:

• The hosting of the 8th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH)
• Implementation of the Nairobi Urban Health Equity Gauge (NUHEG) project which sought to document and disseminate inequities in health in Nairobi. This project ended in 2006.
• Engaging Kenyan MPs in promoting family planning and other population issues in Kenya.

Networking

HENNET membership - APHRC is a member of the Health NGOs Network in Kenya (HENNET), which is recognized by GoK's two health ministries as the official representative of health NGOs in Kenya. HENNET's mandate is to organize health NGOs and engage government in one voice. As such, HENNET sits on key health working/technical groups. It also hosts meetings with health NGOs to provide a forum for engaging government. APHRC actively participates in HENNET activities and circulates its research products to HENNET members.

Kenya Health Equity Network - This a fairly new network initiated collaboratively by EQUINET, APHRC, HAI-Africa and a few other NGOs in Kenya working on health equity related issues. Its purpose is to advocate for the government to prioritize major health inequities. The network is currently housed at APHRC. So far, the network has participated in the third EQUINET conference in September 2009 held in Kampala, Uganda.