Nairobi, Kenya, and Johannesburg, South Africa | July 6, 2026: A new five-year partnership between the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and fraycollege of Communications is set to strengthen research communication, advocacy, and policy engagement skills among African researchers, communicators, and practitioners to move their work beyond academic journals into policy and decision-making spaces including parliaments, ministries, and public debate.
Across Africa, research evidence is increasingly informing policy and public debate. Yet the capacity to communicate that evidence strategically and compellingly, to present it persuasively, advocate for its implications, and engage diverse audiences effectively, remains unevenly developed. This partnership is designed to strengthen those skills, ensuring that African research is not only produced and shared, but communicated in ways that drive meaningful change.
The skills required to present it persuasively, advocate for its implications, and engage diverse audiences effectively are not always in place. This partnership is designed to strengthen those skills, ensuring that African research is not only produced and shared but communicated in ways that drive meaningful change.
The partnership will launch with a Research Communication Webinar Series bringing together researchers, academics, policy analysts, activists, and knowledge managers to build the communication and advocacy skills needed to translate their research into real-world impact. The first webinar, ” Claiming the Researchers’ Power: Why Researchers Must Enter the Public Arena,” will be held on 29 July 2026 at 1 pm CAT. Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cAO9Zs7cTuKBfSVemgHiiw
Building on the webinar series, the partnership will also introduce a cohort-based fellowship programme that will take selected African researchers through a structured training experience designed to deepen their science communication, advocacy, and policy engagement skills.
“This partnership comes at an opportune time. At APHRC, we consistently champion research that shapes decision-making. To do that, we need to equip our researchers and communicators with the skills to engage policymakers and the public, and that’s what we’re building together here,” said Mamadou Diallo, Head of Policy, Engagement, and Communications Program at APHRC.
Mamaponya Motsai, the Chief Executive Officer of fraycollege, underscored the importance of communication to development. She stated, “Effective and strategic communication is one of the most underinvested tools, yet extremely central to Africa’s development agenda. When researchers can articulate their evidence compellingly, they don’t just inform policy; they shape it. This partnership is about building that capacity at scale across the continent.”
About APHRC
The African Population and Health Research Center is a premier research-to-policy institution generating evidence and strengthening research capacity across the African research and development ecosystem, with a focus on engaging policy to inform action on health and development.
About fraycollege of Communications
fraycollege is a pan-African, feminist organisation that provides accredited and non-accredited communications and leadership training, as well as research services, across Africa.
Media Contact
For APHRC:
Chao Shete, Communications Officer, Policy Engagement and Communications Program, cshete@aphrc.org
For fraycollege: Lesego Mbedzi, fraycollege, Communications Officer, admin@fraycollege.com
