Global problems such as climate change, pandemics, social and economic inequality are tricky and difficult to solve, but research for development can help. It finds the best solutions and acts as a link between policy and practice. Yet, development research itself has inherent inequalities and requires systemic change. Although North-South partnerships are often preferred as a popular funding strategy for it, power imbalances often limit their potential.

Southern Voice is currently leading an initiative to study precisely these power imbalances and to find means to address them. It is in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The ultimate aim is to have an action and research agenda to improve research partnerships in global development. The key questions to be addressed are :

  • How can meaningful consideration be given to needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders in North-South partnerships where power imbalances are often involved?
  • How can open & honest dialogues be generated for better collaborations?
  • Which incentives can be put in place to drive change towards more equitable arrangements in the future.
  • Which actors and institutions are in a position to influence the change and transform learning into action?

Our Approach

Our project has two phases, a scoping and an implementation one. During the first year, we are working on parallel and independent tracks to map the issues. The idea is to have democratic spaces encouraging open and frank conversations. For this, Southern Voice is taking a lead in the learning component from the Global South, while IDS is leading conversations with the northern side. In the second part we will bring together both tracks to co-develop a shared vision for development research partnerships.

Why do research partnerships need a redefinition?

More equitable collaborations have the potential to increase the impact of research outcomes and support the solution of global problems. Currently,  agenda-setting in these collaborations is predominantly done by northern institutions, but grounding the research in the priorities from the Global South can increase its relevance. Southern institutions are eager to not only engage but lead the conceptualisation of new knowledge.

Facilitating more equitable partnerships promises also to improve the sustainability of Southern institutions, and strengthen national and regional scientific ecosystems across the Global South. Additionally, more equitable modes of collaboration will contribute to the further development and meaningful integration of theories from the South, and their impact in the development sector.

Yet, to achieve real change, it is imperative to have an open discussion and a shared redefinition of what equitable partnerships mean for the Global South. While new efforts to advance fair partnerships are underway, they suffer from the same asymmetry it tries to tackle. A recent review notes that of 22 papers that propose guidelines for equitable partnerships, only 6 involved researchers in the Global South. We believe that for new partnership arrangements to be truly equitable, the principles that guide them must consider the concerns and priorities of Global South Scholars on an equal footing. This will enable these guidelines to move from paper to practice.

Engagement

The project is open for participation of diverse stakeholders and the concept note provides more details. Please contact Andrea Ordóñez or Geetika Khanduja if interested in engaging. 

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