Catalysing Policy Improvement in Africa (CPIA II)

Overview

CPIA II is a research-to-policy initiative led by UNU Global Health, with funding provided by UNU Global Health and the IDRC. The project seeks to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking and implementation in SRMNCAH through close collaboration with a wide range of national stakeholders, including policymakers, research institutions, implementers, development partners and communities. Building on the lessons of the first phase of CPIA, CPIA II supports nationally led processes that translate evidence into actionable policy and practice.

Currently, CPIA II is being implemented in Mozambique and Burkina Faso by the Faculty of Medicine of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane and the National Research Centre of Nouna, respectively. In partnership with both Ministries of Health and other key national stakeholders, the project uses implementation research, stakeholder engagement and capacity strengthening to address health system implementation challenges and improve the uptake of evidence in decision-making, thereby enhancing the quality, effectiveness and impact of health services. Areas of focus include ASRH, adolescent mental health, and digital health for MNCH.

Our Approach

CPIA II adopts a synergy-driven and country-driven model that:

• Strengthens links between research, evidence, policy and implementation.
• Supports national priorities through locally led partnerships.
• Generates context-specific evidence to inform decision-making.
• Builds capacity for evidence synthesis, policy dialogue and knowledge translation.
• Promotes stakeholder engagement across government, academia, civil society and implementation partners.
• Facilitates learning and exchange between countries facing similar health system challenges.
• Applies a decolonial approach that prioritises local leadership, national ownership and the strengthening of local research and policymaking systems.
• Promotes a gender-transformative and intersectional equity approach, recognising how gender and other social factors shape health needs, access to services and health outcomes.

Mozambique

In Mozambique, CPIA II is supporting the strengthening of ASRH through implementation research designed to address priority evidence gaps identified by policymakers and health system decision-makers. Building on the foundations established during the first phase of CPIA, the project focuses on generating actionable evidence to inform policy and programme implementation in areas where data remain limited or where challenges persist despite targeted interventions, including unintended pregnancies, access to safe abortion services, sexually transmitted infections, and adolescent mental health. Through close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, researchers, implementing partners, communities and development partners, CPIA II seeks to ensure that implementation research responds to national priorities and contributes directly to evidence-informed decision-making and policy improvement.

Key activities include:

• Mapping and analysing existing adolescent health and SRHR interventions implemented by government, NGOs and development partners across the country.
• Conducting 6 implementation research studies on high-impact interventions to improve adolescent mental health and ASRH outcomes.
• Engaging policymakers, implementers, researchers and communities to identify priorities and promote the continuous uptake of evidence into policy and programme implementation. 
• Developing and delivering training modules on implementation research tailored to adolescent health and SRHR.
• Building the capacity of postgraduate students, researchers and health managers in implementation research, knowledge translation and evidence-informed decision-making. 
• Facilitating stakeholder workshops and policy engagement activities to strengthen partnerships and support the adoption of evidence-based recommendations.
• Supporting the development of sustainable collaborations between the Ministry of Health, Eduardo Mondlane University, local implementing partners and development partners to strengthen the adolescent health ecosystem. [

Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, CPIA II is supporting the digitalisation of the community health system through implementation research aimed at strengthening the generation, integration and use of community health data for descentralised decision-making. Building on the country's digital health governance agenda, the project focuses on improving how community-generated data related to MNCH are collected, analysed and used across different levels of the health system. Through close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, community health workers, health facilities, local authorities and development partners, CPIA II seeks to identify implementation bottlenecks and co-design locally adapted solutions that strengthen data governance and health system performance. 

Key activities include:

• Conducting implementation research in the Djoro region to assess barriers and facilitators to community health digitalisation. 
• Evaluating how community-generated MNCH data are collected, reported, integrated and used within national health information systems. 
• Assessing challenges related to data quality, interoperability, governance, digital literacy, coordination and local capacity for data use. 
• Engaging community health workers, health professionals, local authorities and communities in the co-design of context-specific implementation strategies.
• Strengthening data ownership, collective data review processes and evidence-informed decision-making at community and primary healthcare levels. 
• Supporting the integration of community health data into routine planning, monitoring and service improvement processes. 
• Generating evidence and practical recommendations to inform digital health governance, community health system strengthening and the sustainable scale-up of digital health interventions. 

Research, Learning and Policy Impact

CPIA II generates and translates evidence to support stronger health systems and more effective policies in Burkina Faso and Mozambique. By combining implementation research with continuous stakeholder engagement and capacity strengthening, the project seeks to ensure that lessons emerging from local experiences contribute not only to national decision-making but also to broader learning on how evidence can be more effectively integrated into health policy and implementation.

Key outputs and expected impacts include:

• Generation of context-specific evidence to address priority health system challenges and inform policy development and implementation.
• Production of policy briefs, technical reports, scientific publications and other knowledge products tailored to different audiences.
• Strengthening of national capacities in implementation research, knowledge translation and evidence-informed decision-making.
• Facilitation of policy dialogue and exchange between researchers, policymakers, implementers and communities.
• Documentation and dissemination of lessons learned to support adaptation and scale-up within and beyond the participating countries.
• Promotion of cross-country learning and knowledge exchange on approaches to strengthening evidence uptake in health systems.

Through these efforts, CPIA II contributes to a growing body of practical knowledge on how locally led, partnership-based approaches can strengthen the translation of evidence into policy and implementation in low- and middle-income countries.