Led by Dr Konoasang Sobane, the HSRC’s Impact Centre has been driving initiatives to distil policy-relevant messaging and recommendations from research outputs.

The main purpose of policy briefs is to provide a succinct evaluation of policy options related to a specific issue, and they are tailored for a specific policy-maker audience. The primary goal is to assist policymakers in making informed and practical decisions, often within tight timeframes.

To achieve this purpose, policy briefs should provide well-supported evidence and actionable recommendations, allowing policymakers to quickly grasp the key points and consider potential courses of action. This focus on relevance, brevity, and clarity is what makes policy briefs effective tools in the policy-making process.

Policy briefs have been predominantly text-based documents. However, there has been a shift towards creating visually engaging briefs that incorporate infographics, images, and interactive elements, enhancing their accessibility and facilitating a better understanding for readers. The latest iteration of this can be seen in the Policy Brief Series, which extends policy briefs into multi-modal formats.

View the succinct policy brief videos in the playlist below:

Take a look at the HSRC’s other policy briefs here.