We believe that equitable partnerships are fundamental to solving the world’s greatest research challenges. The way in which research is undertaken is just as important as the outputs of research, and equity in research is central to achieving that impact.
In recent years, there has been an increase in international partnerships between researchers in the Global North and Global South. In order for this research to be impactful, and to effectively address global challenges, it is important that these partnerships are equitable. Whilst there is no agreed universal definition for equitable partnerships, equitable partnerships are frequently defined as:
Partnerships in which there is mutual participation, mutual trust and respect, mutual benefit and equal value placed on each partners contribution at all stages of the research process.
We believe that funders have a key role to play in ensuring research partnerships are equitable. Many in our membership, and in the broader research funding community have started to take steps towards supporting greater equity in research partnerships. However, there is still a need to identify remaining barriers to and enablers of equitable research partnerships.
Whilst there are a significant amount of resources which exist on equitable partnerships, there is comparatively little which specifically focuses on the role of research funders. Given to the reach of UKCDR across a range of global funders, and our previous work on equitable partnerships, UKCDR is well placed to fill this gap and contribute to support funders to consider and implement practices to promote equitable research partnerships.
2017 – We produced a report highlighting 10 ways funders could make North-South partnerships more equitable.
2019 – We co-hosted the 2019 International Development Research Funders Forum (IRDFF) in partnership with the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) to further understand how to support funders to move from principles to practice in ensuring equitable partnerships.
2021 – We launched an Equitable Partnerships Resource Hub, in partnership with ESSENCE on Health, featuring over 30 tools, guides, reports and other resources on equitable research partnerships for development.
Following on from the IRDFF2019, we established an international cross-funder task force to work towards concerted action to accelerate progress on embedding good funder practice in equitable through the project ‘Navigating barriers to equitable partnerships – moving from principles to practice’.
The project aims to develop guidance and case studies which identify barriers, enablers and recommendations to support good funder practice in ensuring equitable research partnerships.
This Good Practice Document aims to support equity in research by assisting funders, research institutions and researchers to improve ways of working in multi-country research consortia and partnerships, particularly in LMIC contexts.
This report by UKCDR (previously UKCDS) explores the role that funders play throughout the research lifecycle to select & build partnerships. Seven in-depth case studies exemplify the range of programmes & structures used.
A set of principles to align research funders towards a coordinated effort for supporting high-quality research for the most pressing global needs in epidemics and pandemics.
The International Research Development Funders Forum (IRDFF) is an inclusive meeting that explores commonality across global funders, to improve research funding practices through collaboration. IRDFF are a international group of funders, representing global perspectives from high- to low-income countries.
UKCDR’s new report, ‘The landscape of UK development research impact: An analysis of REF2021 impact case studies’, investigates the type of development research being undertaken in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) and the impact this research has. Reflecting critically on understandings and assessments of impact, the report presents a new framework of six research enablers to support best practice in the research for development community.
This report provides a snapshot of international development research undertaken by UK HEIs in the REF2021 period (2013-2020). Based on the REF2021 definition of non-academic impact, it gives an overview of the types of impact research has in LMICs and globally and how this differs across disciplines and topics.
In the complex reality of international development, where challenges are multifaceted, funding faces constraints, and solutions require a broad combination of expertise, the...
For more information on our work on equitable partnerships, please contact Alice Chadwick El-Ali, Senior Research & Policy Officer, (a.chadwickel-ali@old-ukcdr.s14staging.uk)