In 2023, APHRC continued to live up to its description as an outstanding organization by taking a more prominent leadership role within the African research and development ecosystem. We remained steadfast in elevating African voices by offering our expertise to policymakers and partners through our evidence-informed decisionmaking (EIDM) approach.
Last year saw an all-around excellent performance for APHRC. The Center maintained its geographic focus, our financial performance was strong, and we forged new partnerships with more academic institutions on the continent and deepened our partnership with a select few through the establishment of research hubs.
Our experts significantly contributed to research and policy initiatives through sustained engagement and outreach within consortiums, technical working groups, and government advisory bodies.
The Center, having finalized its firstever Organizational Effectiveness Assessment (OEA) earlier, began restructuring critical functions as part of the recommendations from the exercise, focusing on our Human Resources, Business Development, and Policy Engagement and Communications. We strengthened our systems and steadily progressed in harmonizing governance instruments and processes.
These included establishing an audit committee, developing strategic and functional risk registers that factor in current trends in the risk environment, and better risk identification and mitigation measures. We implemented recommendations from a job evaluation to achieve internal equity and conducted a staff satisfaction survey.
One of the most significant exercises initiated in late 2023 that uniquely positions the Center was the gender pay gap analysis. It is meant to result in the first-of-its-kind analysis at the Center and will inform whether our interventions in gender equality over the years have borne fruit. Stay tuned for the findings!
We are pleased to see the rapid development of new and strategic research and policy areas at the Center, such as the intersection between climate change, environmental factors, and human health. With the heightened global conversations on climate change as a critical threat to the health of millions of vulnerable populations, the Center has set its sights on developing strong programs on climate change, its myriad of health impacts, including mental health, and its social determinants on the continent. The role of data science in these new initiatives cannot be overstated.
At APHRC, we have built a foundation for success, encompassing all our diverse stakeholders. We are incredibly proud of and grateful to you all for your efforts in supporting our work.
Thank you, and let us change the narrative together for the betterment of our continent.
