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Background: The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the implementation of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) universal test and treat (UTT) policy have led to a decline in the incidence of opportunistic infections. However, oropharyngeal and oral candidiasis remain prevalent and continue to pose challenges among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) in Africa, indicating the need for a better understanding of the distribution of Candida species responsible for these infections. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the distribution of Candida species isolated from PLHIV with oropharyngeal and oral candidiasis in Africa in the era of UTT policy., Methods: The review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted to identify eligible studies to be included in the meta-analysis and analysed using a random effects model in STATA version 17. The risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute quality assessment tool., Results: Fourteen studies with 4281 participants were included in the review. Overall, 2095 Candida isolates were reported, 78.7% (1650/2095) of which were C. albicans, 19.6% (410/2095), non-albicans Candida (NAC), and 1.7% (35/2095) could not be identified to the Candida specific species level. The most prevalent NAC species were C. glabrata (26.3%), followed by C. tropicalis (24.9%), C. krusei (15.6%), C. parapsilosis (11%), and C. dubliniensis (6.3%). The pooled prevalence of oropharyngeal and oral candidiasis was 48% (95% CI 34-62%). The prevalence of oropharyngeal candidiasis was higher in the pre-UTT era, at 56% (95% CI 40-72%, p < 0.001), than in the post-UTT era, at 34% (95% CI 10-67%, p < 0.001). The risk of bias assessment revealed that 71.4% (10/14) of the included studies had a low risk of bias and that 28.6% (4/14) had a moderate risk of bias., Conclusions: While C. albicans remain, the predominant species causing oropharyngeal and oral candidiasis among PLHIV in Africa, NAC species also contribute significantly to the infection burden. Despite ART and UTT policies, oropharyngeal candidiasis remains prevalent, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Although ethical approval was obtained from the Makerere University School of Biomedical Sciences Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: SBS-2022–254) for the larger study, this systematic review analysed published studies without identifiable patient data; as such, ethical approval was not needed. Consent for publications: Not applicable. Competing interests: The author(s) declare no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The incidence of oropharyngeal candidiasis among people living with human immunodeficiency virus in Africa is on the rise. Oropharyngeal candidiasis is mainly caused by C.albicans ; however, a shift in the etiology towards non- Candida albicans species is increasing. In addition, there are variations in the epidemiological distribution of Candida species causing oropharyngeal candidiasis among people living with human immunodeficiency virus in Africa., Objective: This review aimed to determine the prevalence of oropharyngeal candidiasis and the distribution of Candida species among people living with human immunodeficiency virus in Africa., Materials and Methods: This systematic review protocol was registered in the base PROSPERO database prior to its conduct (CRD42021254473). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocol guidelines (PRISMA-P) were followed for this study. The PubMed, Scopus and EMBASE databases were searched to identify published studies published between 1 st January 2000 and 8 th October 2022. The eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis and analyzed using a random effects model. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute quality assessment tool for prevalence studies., Results: The database search yielded 370 titles from PubMed (n=192), EMBASE (n=162) and SCOPUS (n=16). Fourteen studies with a total of 3,863 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of oropharyngeal candidiasis was 49.0% (95% CI: 37% - 62%). A total of 2,688 Candida isolates were reported; approximately 76.6% (n=2,060) were C. albicans , and 21.7% (n=582) were non- C. albicans . Among the non- Candida albicans species, C . glabrata was the most common isolate (29.6%), followed by C . tropicalis (27.7%), C . krusei (17.0%), C . parapsilosis (8.1%) and C . dubliniensis (5.2%). Out of 14 studies, 7 (50.0%) had a low risk of bias, 5 (35.7%) had a moderate risk of bias, and 2 (14.3%) had a high risk of bias., Conclusion: Almost half of people living with HIV in Africa have oropharyngeal candidiasis, and C. albicans remains the most frequent cause of oropharyngeal candidiasis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing interests The author(s) declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Studies suggest a need for new diagnostic approaches for cervical cancer including microRNA technology. In this review, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of microRNAs in detecting cervical cancer and Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN). We performed a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guideline for protocols (PRISMA-P). We searched for all articles in online databases and grey literature from 01st January 2012 to 16th August 2022. We used the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies tool (QUADAS-2) to assess the risk of bias of included studies and then conducted a Random Effects Meta-analysis. We identified 297 articles and eventually extracted data from 24 studies. Serum/plasma concentration miR-205, miR-21, miR-192, and miR-9 showed highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC of 0.750, 0.689, 0.980, and 0.900, respectively) for detecting CIN from healthy controls. MicroRNA panels (miR-21, miR-125b and miR-370) and (miR-9, miR-10a, miR-20a and miR-196a and miR-16-2) had AUC values of 0.897 and 0.886 respectively for detecting CIN from healthy controls. For detection of cervical cancer from healthy controls, the most promising microRNAs were miR-21, miR-205, miR-192 and miR-9 (AUC values of 0.723, 0.960, 1.00, and 0.99 respectively). We report higher diagnostic accuracy of upregulated microRNAs, especially miR-205, miR-9, miR-192, and miR-21. This highlights their potential as stand-alone screening or diagnostic tests, either with others, in a new algorithm, or together with other biomarkers for purposes of detecting cervical lesions. Future studies could standardize quantification methods, and also study microRNAs in higher prevalence populations like in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Our review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022313275)., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.We, the authors declare that we do not have any competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Plasmodium falciparum causes most of the malaria cases. Despite its crucial roles in disease severity and drug resistance, comprehensive data on Plasmodium falciparum genetic diversity and multiplicity of infection (MOI) are sparse in SSA. This study summarizes available information on genetic diversity and MOI, focusing on key markers (msp-1, msp-2, glurp, and microsatellites). The systematic review aimed to evaluate their influence on malaria transmission dynamics and offer insights for enhancing malaria control measures in SSA., Methods: The review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Two reviewers conducted article screening, assessed the risk of bias (RoB), and performed data abstraction. Meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model in STATA version 17., Results: The review included 52 articles: 39 cross-sectional studies and 13 Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)/cohort studies, involving 11,640 genotyped parasite isolates from 23 SSA countries. The overall pooled mean expected heterozygosity was 0.65 (95% CI: 0.51-0.78). Regionally, values varied: East (0.58), Central (0.84), Southern (0.74), and West Africa (0.69). Overall pooled allele frequencies of msp-1 alleles K1, MAD20, and RO33 were 61%, 44%, and 40%, respectively, while msp-2 I/C 3D7 and FC27 alleles were 61% and 55%. Central Africa reported higher frequencies (K1: 74%, MAD20: 51%, RO33: 48%) than East Africa (K1: 46%, MAD20: 42%, RO33: 31%). For msp-2, East Africa had 60% and 55% for I/C 3D7 and FC27 alleles, while West Africa had 62% and 50%, respectively. The pooled allele frequency for glurp was 66%. The overall pooled mean MOI was 2.09 (95% CI: 1.88-2.30), with regional variations: East (2.05), Central (2.37), Southern (2.16), and West Africa (1.96). The overall prevalence of polyclonal Plasmodium falciparum infections was 63% (95% CI: 56-70), with regional prevalences as follows: East (62%), West (61%), Central (65%), and South Africa (71%)., Conclusion: The study shows substantial regional variation in Plasmodium falciparum parasite genetic diversity and MOI in SSA. These findings suggest a need for malaria control strategies and surveillance efforts considering regional-specific factors underlying Plasmodium falciparum infection., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Children exposed to severe malaria may recover with gross neurologic deficits (GND). Several risk factors for GND after cerebral malaria (CM), the deadliest form of severe malaria, have been identified in children. However, there is inconsistency between previously reported and more recent findings. Although CM patients are the most likely group to develop GND, it is not clear if other forms of severe malaria (non-CM) may also contribute to the malaria related GND. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize evidence on the prevalence and risk factors for GND in children following CM and map the changes in patterns over time. In addition, this review will synthesize evidence on the reported prevalence and risk factors of gross neurologic deficits following other forms of severe malaria., Methods: The systematic review will be conducted according to recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols (PRISMA-P). Relevant research articles will be identified using relevant search terms from the following databases: MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and Global Index Medicus (GIM). The articles will be screened at title and abstract, then at full text for inclusion using a priori eligibility criteria. Data extraction will be done using a tool developed and optimized in Excel spreadsheet. Risk of bias assessment will be done using appropriate tools including ROBINS-E ('Risk Of Bias In Non-randomized Studies of Exposure') tool, while publication bias will be assessed using funnel plot. A random-effects meta-analysis and structured narrative synthesis of the outcomes will be performed and results presented., Discussion: Findings from this systematic review will inform policy makers on planning, design and implementation of interventions targeting the treatment and rehabilitation of GND following severe malaria in children., Systematic Review Registration: The protocol is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), registration number CRD42022297109., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Background: Wounds inflict pain and affect human health causing high expenditure on treatment and management. Herbal crude extracts are used in traditional medicine as a treatment for wounds and other illnesses. However, the progress in the use of plants has been deterred due to their poor solubility and poor bioavailability requiring administration at high doses. It has been established that nanoencapsulation of herbal products in nanocarriers (size 1 nm to 100 nm) such as nanofibers, nanoparticles, nanospheres, and nanoliposomes greatly improves their efficacy. Due to their small and large surface area, nanocarriers are more biologically active, improve bioavailability, protect the drug from deterioration, and release it to the targeted site in a sustainable manner., Aim: The review aims to collate and appraise evidence on the efficacy of nano encapsulated herbal extracts in the treatment of induced wounds in animal models., Methods: The review will be protocol-driven and conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis for Protocols (PRISMA-P) and protocol guidelines for systematic review and meta-analysis for animal intervention studies. The final review will be conducted and reported with reference to PRISMA 2020 statement. Studies will be searched in Pub Med, ProQuest, Web of Science, Medline Ovid, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. The PRISMA flow criteria will be followed in screening the articles for inclusion. Data extraction form will be designed in Excel spreadsheet 2013 and data extracted based on the primary and secondary outcomes. Risk of bias assessment will be done using SYRCLE's risk of bias tool for animal studies. Data analysis will be done using narrative and quantitative synthesis., Expected Results: We hope to make meaningful comparisons between the effectiveness of the herb-loaded nanomaterials and other interventions (controls) in the selected studies, based on the primary and secondary outcome measures. We expect that these findings to inform clinical practice on whether preclinical studies show enough quality evidence on the efficacy and safety of herbal-loaded nanomaterials that can be translated into clinical trials and further research., Systemic Review Registration: PROSPERO 330330. The protocol was submitted on the 11th of May 2022., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Introduction: The practice of creating large databases has become increasingly common by combining research participants' data into larger repositories. Funders now require that data sharing be considered in newly funded research project, unless there are justifiable reasons not to do so. Access to genomic data brings along a host of ethical concerns as well as fairness and equity in the conduct of collaborative research between researchers from high- income and low-and middle-income countries., Materials and Methods: This systematic review protocol will be developed in line with PRISMA -guidelines which refers to Open Science Framework, registered in PROSPERO (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/) record CRD42022297984 and published in a peer reviewed journal. Data sources will include PubMed, google scholar, EMBASE, Web of science and MEDLINE. Both published and grey literature will be searched. Subject matter experts including bioethicists, principal investigators of genomic research projects and research administrators will be contacted. After de-duplication, titles and abstracts will be screened for eligibility. Data extraction will be undertaken using a piloted form designed in EPPI-Reviewer software before conducting risk of bias assessments by a pair of reviewers, acting independently. Any discrepancies will be resolved by consensus. Analysis will be done using a structured narrative synthesis and where feasible metanalysis. This review will attempt to highlight the context of data sharing practices in the global North-South and South-South collaborative human genomic research in low- and middle-income countries. This review will enhance the body of evidence on ethical, legal and social implications of data sharing in international collaborative genomic research setting criteria for data sharing. The full report will be shared with relevant stakeholders including universities, civil society, funders, and departments of genomic research to ensure an adequate reach in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs)., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (Copyright: © 2023 Ekusai-Sebatta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: The One Health approach is key in implementing International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) and the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). Uganda is signatory to the IHR 2005 and in 2017, the country conducted a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) that guided development of the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) 2019-2023., Aim: This study assessed the contribution of the One Health approach to strengthening health security in Uganda., Methods: A process evaluation between 25th September and 5th October 2020, using a mixed-methods case study. Participants were Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from government ministries, departments, agencies and implementing partners. Focus group discussions were conducted for five technical areas (workforce development, real-time surveillance, zoonotic diseases, national laboratory systems and emergency response operations), spanning 18 indicators and 96 activities. Funding and implementation status from the NAPHS launch in August 2019 to October 2020 was assessed with a One Health lens., Results: Full funding was available for 36.5% of activities while 40.6% were partially funded and 22.9% were not funded at all. Majority (65%) of the activities were still in progress, whereas 8.6% were fully implemented and14.2% were not yet done. In workforce development, several multisectoral trainings were conducted including the frontline public health fellowship program, the One Health fellowship and residency program, advanced field epidemiology training program, in-service veterinary trainings and 21 district One Health teams' trainings. Real Time Surveillance was achieved through incorporating animal health events reporting in the electronic integrated disease surveillance and response platform. The national and ten regional veterinary laboratories were assessed for capacity to conduct zoonotic disease diagnostics, two of which were integrated into the national specimen referral and transportation network. Multisectoral planning for emergency response and the actual response to prioritized zoonotic disease outbreaks was done jointly., Conclusions: This study demonstrates the contribution of 'One Health' implementation in strengthening Uganda's health security. Investment in the funding gaps will reinforce Uganda's health security to achieve the IHR 2005. Future studies could examine the impacts and cost-effectiveness of One Health in curbing prioritized zoonotic disease outbreaks., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: To evaluate the support from the available guidance on reporting of health equity in research for our candidate items and to identify additional items for the Strengthening Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology-Equity extension., Study Design and Setting: We conducted a scoping review by searching Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Methodology Register, LILACS, and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information up to January 2022. We also searched reference lists and gray literature for additional resources. We included guidance and assessments (hereafter termed "resources") related to conduct and/or reporting for any type of health research with or about people experiencing health inequity., Results: We included 34 resources, which supported one or more candidate items or contributed to new items about health equity reporting in observational research. Each candidate item was supported by a median of six (range: 1-15) resources. In addition, 12 resources suggested 13 new items, such as "report the background of investigators"., Conclusion: Existing resources for reporting health equity in observational studies aligned with our interim checklist of candidate items. We also identified additional items that will be considered in the development of a consensus-based and evidence-based guideline for reporting health equity in observational studies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Although Luis Gabriel Cuervo is an official of the Pan American Health Organization, the views expressed in this publication are his sole responsibility and do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Diseases addressed by surgical, obstetric, trauma and anaesthesia (SOTA) care are rising globally due to an anticipated rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases and road traffic accidents. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) disproportionately bear the brunt. Evidence-based policies and political commitment are required to reverse this trend. The Lancet Commission of Global Surgery proposed National Surgical and Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) to alleviate the respective SOTA burdens in LMICs. NSOAPs success leverages comprehensive stakeholder engagement and appropriate health policy analyses and recommendations. As Uganda embarks on its NSOAP development, policy prioritisation in Uganda remains unexplored. We, therefore, seek to determine the priority given to SOTA care in Uganda's healthcare policy and systems-relevant documents., Methods and Analysis: We will conduct a scoping review of SOTA health policy and system-relevant documents produced between 2000 and 2022 using the Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework and additional guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer's manual. These documents will be sought from the websites of SOTA stakeholders by hand searching. We shall also search from Google Scholar and PubMed using well-defined search strategies. The Knowledge Management Portal for the Ugandan Ministry of Health, which was created to provide evidence-based decision-making data, is the primary source. The rest of the sources will include the following: other repositories like websites of relevant government institutions, international and national non-governmental organisations, professional associations and councils, and religious and medical bureaus. Data retrieved from the eligible policy and decision-making documents will include the year of publication, the global surgery specialty mentioned, the NSOAP surgical system domain, the national priority area involved and funding. The data will be collected in a preformed extraction sheet. Two independent reviewers will screen the collected data, and results will be presented as counts and their respective proportions. The findings will be reported narratively using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for scoping reviews., Ethics and Dissemination: This study will generate evidence-based information on the state of SOTA care in Uganda's health policy, which will inform NSOAP development in this nation. The review's findings will be presented to the Ministry of Health planning task force. The study will also be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication; oral and poster presentations at local, regional, national and international conferences and over social media., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: With the rising resistance to artemisinin-based combination treatments, there is a need to hasten the discovery and development of newer antimalarial agents. Herbal medicines are key for the development of novel drugs. Currently, herbal medicine usage in communities for treatment of malaria symptoms is common as an alternative to conventional (modern) antimalarial agents. However, the efficacy and safety of most of the herbal medicines has not yet been established. Therefore, this systematic review and evidence gap map (EGM) is intended to collate and map the available evidence, identify the gaps and synthesise the efficacy of herbal antimalarial medicines used in malaria affected regions globally., Methods and Analysis: The systematic review and EGM will be done following PRISMA and Campbell Collaboration guidelines respectively. This protocol has been registered in PROSPERO. Data sources will include PubMed, MEDLINE Ovid, EMBASE, Web of Science, Google Scholar and grey literature search. Data extraction will be done in duplicate using a data extraction tool tailored in Microsoft Office excel for herbal antimalarials discovery research questions following the PICOST framework. The Risk of Bias and overall quality of evidence will be assessed using Cochrane risk of bias tool (clinical trials), QUIN tool (in vitro studies), Newcastle-Ottawa tool (observational studies) and SYRCLE's risk of bias tool for animal studies (in vivo studies). Data analysis will be done using both structured narrative and quantitative synthesis. The primary review outcomes will be clinically important efficacy and adverse drug reactions. Laboratory parameters will include Inhibitory Concentration killing 50% of parasites, IC 50; Ring Stage Assay, RSA 0-3 hou; Trophozoite Survival Assay, TSA 50. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The review protocol was approved by the School of Biomedical Science Research Ethics Committee, Makerere University College of Health Sciences (SBS-2022-213)., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42022367073., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Despite the discovery of vaccines, the control, and prevention of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relied on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). This article describes the development and application of the Public Health Act to implement NPIs for COVID-19 pandemic control in Uganda., Methods: This is a case study of Uganda's experience with enacting COVID-19 Rules under the Public Health Act Cap. 281. The study assessed how and what Rules were developed, their influence on the outbreak progress, and litigation. The data sources reviewed were applicable laws and policies, Presidential speeches, Cabinet resolutions, statutory instruments, COVID-19 situation reports, and the registry of court cases that contributed to a triangulated analysis., Results: Uganda applied four COVID-19 broad Rules for the period March 2020 to October 2021. The Minister of Health enacted the Rules, which response teams, enforcement agencies, and the general population followed. The Presidential speeches, their expiry period and progress of the pandemic curve led to amendment of the Rules twenty one (21) times. The Uganda Peoples Defense Forces Act No. 7 of 2005, the Public Finance Management Act No. 3 of 2015, and the National Policy for Disaster Preparedness and Management supplemented the enacted COVID-19 Rules. However, these Rules attracted specific litigation due to perceived infringement on certain human rights provisions., Conclusions: Countries can enact supportive legislation within the course of an outbreak. The balance of enforcing public health interventions and human rights infringements is an important consideration in future. We recommend public sensitization about legislative provisions and reforms to guide public health responses in future outbreaks or pandemics., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Cervical cancer remains a public health problem worldwide, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. There are challenges in timely screening and diagnosis for early detection and intervention. Therefore, studies on cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia suggest the need for new diagnostic approaches including microRNA technology. Plasma/serum levels of microRNAs are elevated or reduced compared to the normal state and their diagnostic accuracy for detection of cervical neoplasms has not been rigorously assessed more so in low-resource settings such as Uganda. The aim of this systematic review was therefore to assess the diagnostic accuracy of serum microRNAs in detecting cervical cancer., Methods: We will perform a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement. We will search for all articles in MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and CINAHL, as well as grey literature from 2012 to 2022. Our outcomes will be sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive values, positive predictive values or area under the curve (Nagamitsu et al, Mol Clin Oncol 5:189-94, 2016) for each microRNA or microRNA panel. We will use the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (Whiting et al, Ann Intern Med 155:529-36, 2011) tool to assess the risk of bias of included studies. Our results will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis for Diagnostic Test Accuracy studies (PRISMA-DTA). We will summarise studies in a flow chart and then describe them using a structured narrative synthesis. If possible, we shall use the Lehmann model bivariate approach for the meta analysis USE OF THE REVIEW RESULTS: This systematic review will provide information on the relevance of microRNAs in cervical cancer. This information will help policy makers, planners and researchers in determining which particular microRNAs could be employed to screen or diagnose cancer of the cervix., Systematic Review Registration: This protocol has been registered in PROSPERO under registration number CRD42022313275., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Globally, 13% of the youth are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Moreover, this persistent problem has been exacerbated by the shock of Covid-19 pandemic. More youth from disadvantaged backgrounds are likely unemployed than those from better off backgrounds. Thus, the need for increased use of evidence in the design and implementation of youth employment interventions to increase effectiveness and sustainability of interventions and outcomes. Evidence and gap maps (EGMs) can promote evidence-based decision making by guiding policy makers, development partners and researchers to areas with good bodies of evidence and those with little or no evidence. The scope of the Youth Employment EGM is global. The map covers all youth aged 15-35 years. The three broad intervention categories included in the EGM are: strengthening training and education systems, enhancing labour market and, transforming financial sector markets. There are five outcome categories: education and skills; entrepreneurship; employment; welfare and economic outcomes. The EGM contains impact evaluations of interventions implemented to increase youth employment and systematic reviews of such single studies, published or made available between 2000 and 2019., Objectives: The primary objective was to catalogue impact evaluations and systematic reviews on youth employment interventions to improve discoverability of evidence by decision makers, development patterners and researchers, so as to promote evidence-based decision making in programming and implementation of youth employment initiatives., Search Methods: Twenty databases and websites were searched using a validated search strategy. Additional searches included searching within 21 systematic reviews, snowballing 20 most recent studies and citation tracking of 10 most recent studies included in the EGM., Selection Criteria: The study selection criteria followed the PICOS approach of population, intervention, relevant comparison groups, outcomes and study design. Additional criterion is; study publication or availability period of between 2000 and 2021. Only impact evaluations and systematic reviews that included impact evaluations were selected., Data Collection and Analysis: A total of 14,511 studies were uploaded in EPPI Reviewer 4 software, upon which 399 were selected using the criteria provided above. Coding of data took place in EPPI Reviewer basing on predefined codes. The unit of analysis for the report is individual studies where every entry represents a combination of interventions and outcomes., Main Results: Overall, 399 studies (21 systematic reviews and 378 impact evaluations) are included in the EGM. Impact evaluations ( n  = 378) are much more than the systematic reviews ( n  = 21). Most impact evaluations are experimental studies ( n  = 177), followed by non-experimental matching ( n  = 167) and other regression designs ( n  = 35). Experimental studies were mostly conducted in both Lower-income countries and Lower Middle Income countries while non-experimental study designs are the most common in both High Income and Upper Middle Income countries. Most evidence is from low quality impact evaluations (71.2%) while majority of systematic reviews (71.4% of 21) are of medium and high quality rating. The area saturated with most evidence is the intervention category of 'training', while the underrepresented are three main intervention sub-categories: information services; decent work policies and; entrepreneurship promotion and financing. Older youth, youth in fragility, conflict and violence contexts, or humanitarian settings, or ethnic minorities or those with criminal backgrounds are least studied., Conclusions: The Youth Employment EGM identifies trends in evidence notably the following: Most evidence is from high-income countries, an indication of the relationship between a country's income status and research productivity.The most common study designs are experimental.Most of the evidence is of low quality. This finding serves to alert researchers, practitioners and policy makers that more rigorous work is needed to inform youth employment interventions. Blending of interventions is practiced. While this could be an indication that blended intervention could be offering better outcomes, this remains an area with a research gap., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests., (© 2022 The Authors. Campbell Systematic Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Campbell Collaboration.)