University of the Witwatersrand

The African Centre for the Study of the United States is a research center at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa that is devoted to generating African-based knowledge of the United States as a nation, society, and global actor. Over the next three years, the center will consolidate its programmatic activities, including a course on African Digital Diplomacy and a new project on U.S.-Africa-China engagements. (Strategy: Transparency, Participation, and Accountability)

Twende Mbele, hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, is a peer learning partnership of African governments and regional organizations interested in using monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to strengthen government performance and accountability. The partnership aims to (a) support governments in collaboratively developing and using M&E tools, such as gender-responsive national indicators for development planning; (b) strengthen peer learning between governments, including on government officials' capacity to use new tools like rapid evaluations; and (c) improve the comprehensiveness and coordination of national M&E systems, including building stronger links to budgeting and planning. This grant advances our Evidence-Informed Policy strategy's goals of enhancing governments' incentives, capacities, and systems for ongoing evidence use.

The University of the Witwatersrand has built the first truly interdisciplinary population sciences program in sub-Saharan Africa. Its Department of Demography and Population Studies brings experts in statistical, economic, and physical sciences to collaborate with demographers on Africa's most pressing population issues. With the Foundation's partnership, this program has become the university's most prolific social science research institute and a leader in the INDEPTH network of population research sites on the continent. The research platform also anchors a promising graduate training program in population sciences, which attracts candidates from across Africa and gives them the demographic training needed to fill critical gaps in government agencies and NGOs. The program's high-performing graduates represent the continent's next generation of population scientists, taking up important research positions at the university and think tanks such as the African Population and Health Research Center.