Young researchers fine-tune skills at Afrobarometer summer school in SA

Thirty-two young researchers from 14 African countries are in Cape Town to sharpen their research and analytical skills at this year's Afrobarometer Summer School and Thematic Workshop.

The workshop is currently taking place at the University of Cape Town and will run until 31 January.

The summer school is an introductory course that equips young people from Africa with essential skills in research design, survey methodology and data analysis, focusing on public attitudes toward democracy, governance and other critical issues.

"Participants are given the opportunity to explore a range of topics, including perspectives on climate change, support for military rule versus democracy, and attitudes toward refugees, free trade, open borders, access to healthcare, and women's participation," Afrobarometer explained in a statement regarding this year’s summer school, which kicked off on 13 January.

Moreover, a two-week intermediate thematic workshop, running from 20 January to 2 February, focuses on the development of more advanced data collection and analysis skills among African researchers, as well as promoting impactful research and strengthening research networks between African institutions.



African voices amplified

According to Afrobarometer’s capacity-building manager, Jason Owen, the summer school and workshop serve as vital platforms for capacity building, collaboration and promoting research that addresses Africa's urgent governance challenges.

"By building a new generation of experts and facilitating the production of analytical outputs that utilise Afrobarometer’s extensive open-access datasets, we continue to amplify African voices and contribute to data-driven policymaking across the continent,” he said.

Participants are optimistic about the transformative impact of the workshop.

“As a humanitarian and development communication specialist, I work with communities and policy-makers to address political engagement issues among refugees and internally displaced people,” said Ruth Nakayima, research assistant and communication officer at Hatchile Consult Ltd and Plan International Uganda. “This workshop will build my capacities to understand geopolitics and to use data for social development.”