The Network of African Science Academies and its leading integrated research for Agenda 2030

The Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) Secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya and is the affiliate Network for InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) in Africa. The Network of African Science Academies is a consortium of merit-based science academies in Africa and aspires to make the “voice of science” heard by policy and decision makers. The focus of NASAC is to enhance the capacity of existing national science academies and champion the cause for creating new academies where none exist (NASAC, 2017). The Network of African Science Academies provides a mechanism for pooling together expertise on the African continent through the auspices of the respective National Academies to participate in generating and disseminating the evidence-base for policy decision making. The Network operations are designed based on flagship programs. An example of flagship programs at NASAC is the Leading Integrated Research in Africa for Agenda 2030 (LIRA-2030). The LIRA-2030 is run in partnership with the International Council for Science (ICSU) together with its Regional Office for Africa and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The aim of LIRA-2030 is to foster research collaboration primarily among early career scientists based in Africa. The LIRA- 2030 flagship program supports regional research collaboration on global sustainability, focusing on global environmental change, disaster risk reduction, sustainable energy and human health and well-being in the urban environment. It also aims to promote the integration of gender equity and poverty reduction dimensions in research practice and content.