Providing a platform where researchers and decisionmakers – and all the stakeholders involved in the process of policymaking – can connect and collaborate has always been a challenge, and the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is no exception. Although the region faces political and social instabilities, there are multiple innovations, research advances and successful evidence-informed policies being developed. The Latin American and Caribbean Evidence Hub (Hub LAC) was created in 2022, bringing together a diverse and dynamic community of producers, intermediaries and users of knowledge for policymaking in and for LAC.
Hub LAC promotes technical collaborations, learning and exchange workshops on evidence-informed policies, develops country-level Evidence Ecosystems Reports and helps to develop a collective agenda. For example, the Hub held the ‘I Latin American and Caribbean Meeting of Evidence for Policies’ (enLACe 2022) which offered simultaneous interpretation into Portuguese, English and Spanish. The event brought together close to 370 people from 21 countries, of whom 33% were researchers and 16% were policymakers or governmental representatives, as well as other members of civil society.
enLACe 2022 was a platform to meet, connect and debate the use of research evidence in social policy. Participants also suggested key topics and activities for Hub LAC to focus on in the next three years. Four topics and three methodologies were voted on and prioritised in the final plenary session (the options were selected as a priority by voting during the event):
Priority topics
- Sustainable development in relation to environment
- Mental health
- Black populations and racism
- Social, economic and urban inequalities
Priority methodologies
- Train governments to work with evidence, and training in innovative knowledge translation methodologies for evidence producers and disseminators
- Map and promote connections between key actors (evidence producers, users and disseminators)
- Monitor the use of evidence in policy decisionmaking
With these priorities in mind, the Hub LAC team started conversations with Campbell in 2023 to
- translate Campbell’s plain language summaries from English into Spanish and Portuguese
- have a satellite session for the What Works Global Summit 2023 in the annual Semana de la Evidencia and
- improve LAC participation in Campbell’s initiatives.
Veronica Osorio, one of the coordinators of the Hub, said, “I believe that the LAC region shares complex social challenges in crime and justice and social welfare. These are key areas for Campbell, so we are excited to join forces and make this knowledge available to our region”.
Vivian Welch, interim CEO and Editor in Chief of Campbell considers this partnership with the LAC Hub integral to meeting Campbell’s vision of better evidence for a better world. It does this by improving global accessibility through translation into Spanish and Portuguese. “By increasing participation from Latin America and the Caribbean in Campbell, we will be informing our work with priorities from the region to meet policy decisionmakers’ needs,” she said.