UAPS and AIR organized a workshop for Cohort 1 UAPS/AIR P3 Africa Fellows, providing a platform for fellows to present their work-in-progress and receive constructive feedback from senior population scholars from AIR. The workshop was held alongside the Cohort 2 AfRes Fellows’ training workshop, creating valuable opportunities for synergy and collaboration between the two cohorts.
This arrangement enabled Cohort 2 fellows to familiarize themselves with the research topics and progress of Cohort 1, while Cohort 1 fellows benefited from attending selected Cohort 2 training sessions, enriching their overall learning experience. Senior AIR scholars also facilitated sessions on effective grant writing and shared examples of successful past projects.
The Peer Presentation Revolution
What set this workshop apart was the integration of presentations from Cohort 1 fellows—researchers trained in earlier AfRes-Data workshops who returned to share their progress.
- Wednesday: Dr. James Mburu Kangethe, Mr. Caesar Agula, and Dr. Adebola Afolake Adejimi set the tone with compelling demonstrations of applied AfRes-Data training.
- Thursday: Dr. Everlyne Morema, Mr. Bekindaka Ngemani Obase, Mr. Obasanjo Bolarinwa, and Dr. Negussie Boti Sidamo showcased diverse methodologies and findings.
- Friday: Dr. Racheal Asibi Amwe and Mr. Babaekpa Kolawolé Rodrigue concluded the series, reinforcing the workshop’s commitment to community-driven learning.
These sessions validated the program’s impact, provided networking opportunities, and demonstrated the real-world applications of the training.
Key Outcomes
The workshop generated several outcomes that fellows agreed to advance collectively:
- Advancing Publications
Fellows committed to producing two journal articles—a systematic review and a scoping review—for submission to the Journal of African Population Studies (JAPS) and other reputable journals. Research groups were formed through a balloting process, led by Mr. Caesar Agular (systematic review) and Mr. Obasanjo Bolarinwa (scoping review), with active involvement of all Cohort 1 fellows. In addition, fellows expressed interest in editing a special issue of JAPS on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). - Strengthening Mentorship and Skills Sharing
Fellows emphasized peer mentorship as a strategy to sustain learning. Mr. Agular and Mr. Bolarinwa initiated regular online training sessions covering DHS dataset analysis, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and spatial analysis to strengthen collective capacity. - Building Collaborative Research Capacity
To ensure continuity beyond the fellowship period, fellows agreed to collaborate on joint grant writing and project development, building momentum for sustained research and policy engagement.
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