CollatEd Lab Strengthens Worldwide Partnerships to Fight COVID-19 and Re-Envision the Future of Foreign Policy

By Bonaventure Cyubahiro.

Upon the proliferation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda beginning March 14th, 2020, many national activities were affected, including tourism, sports and other productive businesses. Speaking to the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, President Paul Kagame stated that Rwanda’s Economy has been adversely impacted by the pandemic such that as expected, the country’s sustainability goals have taken a downturn.

President Kagame has said, “One example I can give you is that in 2019, our economy grew by 9.2 or 9.4%.  you understand that it will slow down this year but we will not go under the line, but we will be at 2 or 3%, you understand that this has reduced a lot and there is no way we cannot be [negatively] affected, but we are fighting to cope with those effects”.

Up to date, Rwanda has made a significant effort in mitigating the effects caused by COVID-19.

President Paul Kagame has stated that over 4000 people have tested Positive for COVID 19, while 51% have recovered and the others are being treated; this reflects the roles of governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders in fighting this pandemic.

Rwanda is currently one of the only African countries that has spearheaded multi-sectoral collaboration for the purpose of combating the COVID 19 pandemic resulting in related deaths only being attributed to less than 1%. 

One of the integral organizations that aids developing countries in global government capacity building, data-driven policy consultation and research, and achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is CollatEd Lab. CollatEd Lab is currently working in over 100 countries in partnership with government ministers, national leaders, United Nations agencies, universities, and NGOs to target sustainability-focused policy solutions not only towards the global pandemic but to also focus on advancing the role of data science in the policymaking process in Africa.

CollatEd Lab has spearheaded this mission through foreign policy consultations, hosting world summits with government leaders, and developing programs aimed at increasing citizen-centered innovation and providing tools for modern geopolitical decision making.

The following interview questions are addressed to Sara Ketabi, Founder and CEO of CollatEd Lab, who explains the current initiatives and strategy methodology of CollatEd Lab during COVID-19.

A. Following on how you work with countries to deal with the pandemic, what are you doing to help the countries to have a common understanding of global health, including a potential vaccine?

Sara Ketabi: After hosting CollatEd’s Global Governance Summit, featuring influential thought and government leaders on their approach to mitigating the health, economic, and social impacts of COVID-19, we have transitioned to providing access to this knowledge through the development of an ebook relating to innovative research in high-level global governance strategies, sustainability research, policy interviews we’ve conducted across Africa to discuss post COVID-19 strategies relating to future science policy actions, global health awareness on potential vaccines, and the Sustainable Development Goals. We are also working on long-term programs designed to better unite prime ministers and the scientific community through providing technical policy training to high levels on the role of science and data science to combat lack of strategy for the current and future outbreaks.

B. What are your views on mobilizing countries’ policies and contributions to fight #COVID-19?

Sara Ketabi: CollatEd Lab seeks to mobilize countries via our Ministerial Global Leadership and SDG Innovation Capacity Building Programs, fostering collaboration between private, academic, and public stakeholders for sustainability policy issues such as COVID-19. 

Following our policy model of equipping governments with the tools necessary to design sustainable policies and democracies in accordance to each country’s political and cultural values, we also help national leaders develop a strategic narrative in the pursuit of their policy goals and objectives. We help articulate the “why”- a higher purpose or common goal that helps existing actors and cross sector stakeholders overcome vested interests and form a shared identity.

As a result of this form of strategic knowledge transfer, we are able to make significant progress towards larger goals of facilitating advancements in Science & Technology, strengthening capital markets/financial sector development, and adequate responses issues ranging from the current pandemic to foreign policy.

C. Besides leading science policy efforts to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, what are your strategies to help countries worldwide achieve the mission of your organization?

Sara Ketabi: We as an organization seek to create a highly efficient, transparent, and accountable government through our global policy initiatives. This is undertaken through CollatEd Lab’s Strategic Political Framework, which aims to facilitate long term economic planning, sustainable leadership development, cross sectoral collaboration, and sustainable policy implementation for prime ministers, key government leaders, and organizations.

The recent breakthroughs in open source and human intelligence combined with the power of data science allows us to assist ministers formulate primary and secondary research capabilities and edge “intelligence analytics”, enabling partners to understand the complex yet critical socio-political environment in which they are operating in. As a result, through various partnerships with leading NGOs, we have been able to expand to over 100 countries in order to foster engagement for widespread approach to the implementation of the SDGs in government.