| Director: | El-Jardali, Fadi |
| Associate Director: | Nakkash, Rima
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| Instructors of Public Health Practice: | Jamal, Diana; Fadlallah, Racha; Bou Karroum, Lama; Abou Samra, Clara |
Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center draws on an unparalleled breadth of synthesized evidence and context-specific knowledge by producing briefs and conducting policy dialogues to impact policy agendas and action. K2P produces high quality policy products to help policymakers and stakeholders have the clearest understanding of the most important messages, options and recommendations to address pressing health and social system problems.
K2P harnesses the best available evidence on pressing health and social systems priorities; convenes concerned policy makers, stakeholders, thinkers, researchers and doers; and prepares leaders to meet pressing health issues by building their capacity in public policymaking.
The K2P team comprises a program manager, communication officer, an advocacy lead and several evidence lead specialists.
K2P Functions and Activities:
- Inform the production, packaging and sharing of research data and evidence in an objective manner and based on current and emerging policymaking priorities
- Utilize a rapid response system to inform policymaking in an objective manner using the best available evidence that can be prepared and packaged within time and resource constraints
- Conduct evidence informed advocacy and support implementation in policy and practice
- Conduct policy tracing research and develop models for knowledge translation that are context-specific, culturally appropriate, relevant and effective for the region
- Support research networks, civil society, researchers, policy makers and the media
- Engage with citizens to enhance their involvement in the decision and policymaking process on high priority issues
- Build the capacity of researchers, policymakers and media in knowledge translation (KT) and evidence communication methods to influence policy, practice and action
K2P develops a diverse set of KT products including K2P Policy Briefs, K2P Briefing Notes, K2P Rapid Response, K2P Evidence Summaries, K2P Dialogue Summaries, K2P Advocacy Briefs, K2P Citizens Briefs, K2P Citizen Consultation Summary, and K2P Media Bites. The center has the K2P Mentorship Program that supports research and policy organizations in the six regions of the World Health Organization (WHO). K2P leads the COVID-19 Rapid Response Series.
Collaborations
K2P collaborates with national and international partners including Center for Systematic Reviews on Health Policy and Systems Research (SPARK) and Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at the American University of Beirut; and McMaster Health Forum in Canada and the Evidence Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.
WHO Collaborating Center for Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice
Since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated K2P Center twice as a WHO Collaborating Center for Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice. This designation, effective for another four-year term, is unique since the K2P Center is the only WHO Collaborating Center for Evidence-Informed Policy and Practice in Lebanon and the region, and is the second WHO Collaborating Center of this kind globally after McMaster Health Forum in Canada.