Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS), in collaboration with the Civil Service Training Centre (CSTC), has ended a 10 day training programme on Evidence Informed Policy Making (EIPM) for middle level staff, drawn from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The training, the second to be organised by GINKS this year, equipped participants with hand on knowledge on how to search for information and analyse data to inform policy development.

Participants were introduced to evidence-informed policy making, search strategy, assessing evidence and communicating evidence.

Closing the programme, the Principal of CSTC, Mrs Dora Dei-Tumi expressed excitement at the depth of knowledge exhibited by the participants in their presentations, adding that the CSTC was ready to groom the participants and engage them as facilitators to future programmes.

She said EIPM was critical to good memos, GINKS’ intervention, she added was therefore timely. She urged other development partners to come on board to increase the number of times the programme was held each year.

Mrs Dei-Tumi encouraged the participants to push and make positive impact on their work regardless of the obstacles they would meet. She reiterated the need to team up with the first batch of participants to provide credible data for the development of policies.

She thanked GINKS for the support and implored it to increase the sponsorship.

The Executive Director of GINKS, Mr Ibrahim Insuah, urged the participants to team up and develop credible proposals on projects they wish to implement in their institutions, expressing GINKS’ readiness to support such proposals.  He was happy that the participants, throughout the course, had demonstrated their readiness to learn in spite of the frequent interruption from the institutions they represented as a result of their positions.   

The grades of the participants ranged from Deputy Directors to Assistant Director 1 and analogues grades. 

Madam Vera Alomatu, Course Representative, on behalf of participants recommended that the course be made mandatory to all deputy directors, assistant directors and analogous grades in the civil service and related public service. This, according to her  could take a form of training the trainers to enable course participants replicate the training in their respective duty post possibly under the supervision of the organisers.