Show me the evidence

Policymakers and the staff who support them are increasingly aware that decision making should be informed by reliable evidence. There is a growing body of research in this area, which this seminar aimed to explore with a particular focus on the developing world.

Participants in 'Show me the evidence', including members of Uganda's parliamentary science committee, parliamentary staff and experts, discussed the lessons that could be learned from research into evidence-informed policy making.They asked how such research could help guide the work of researchers and organisations whose role is to provide policymakers with reliable information.

As an editorial in SciDev.Net points out, there are various constraints that result in decision-makers failing to take scientific evidence into account, including political expediency and economic self-interest. In developing countries, this can also 'result from a lack of familiarity with the scientific method, or its significance and its limitations. Policymakers in these countries not only need to be aware of the scientific knowledge relevant to the decisions that they face, they also need to know the status, validity and limits of such knowledge compared with that from other sources', according to SciDev.Net.

Panel members included:

• Chandrika Nath, manager of African capacity building activities, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)
• Hon. Obua Denis Hamsom MP, Chair, Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Parliament of Uganda
• Ajoy Datta, Research and Policy in Development (RAPID), Overseas Development Institute
• Kirsty Newman, Head of Evidence Informed Policy Making, International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)
• Bryn Morgan, Director of Research, Department of Information Services, House of Commons

You can find presentations and further information related to the event on the POST website.