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South-South Networks in HIV Research and Clinical Care Satellite Meeting Tuesday July 21 st 2009 18.30-20.30. Challenges of north-south partnerships. Compartmentalized rather than institution-wide Mainly organised in vertical programmes
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South-South Networks in HIV Research and Clinical Care Satellite Meeting Tuesday July 21st 2009 18.30-20.30
Challenges of north-south partnerships • Compartmentalized rather than institution-wide • Mainly organised in vertical programmes • Southern researchers working vertically with northern partners may become isolated from other researchers within their own institution. • May lead to neglect of national networks while north-south collaborations are promoted. • May lead to fragmentation and duplication within southern institution • Unequal power relationships; lack of control by southern partners.
Guidelines for North-South Research Partnerships (Swiss Commission for Research Partnership with Developing Countries, 2000) • Collaboration based on strong mutual interest and gain • Project proposals drafted and scientific papers written jointly • Provision in budget for training and pursuing formal degrees • Salaries sufficient to ensure full-time commitment • Transparency in budget allocations • Regular meetings to review ongoing work and plan future activities • Use of fast communication channels • Monitoring and evaluation of programme • Mechanisms to ensure sustainability
South-south/regional networksBenefits • Help institutions overcome problems of:- • Scientific isolation of individual researchers • Threat of brain drain • Individual weak institutional capacity • South-South Networks harness collective potentials of individual institutions to achieve common objectives:- • Information sharing • Resource sharing • Resource mobilisation
Network Types • Geography: • North-North; North-South; • South-South; • North-South-South;North-North-South-South • Structure: • Network of regional centres of excellence for training and research • Regional network of institutions (strong and weak) • Focus: • Research • Clinical • Laboratory • Surveillance • Training
Multiple south-south(-north)/ regional research networks: • Africa • University Science, Humanities and Engineering Partnerships in Africa (USHEPA) • New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) • Initiative to Strengthen Health Research Capacity in Africa (ISHReCA) • Partnership for Capacity Building in Africa (PACT) led by Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ABCF) • African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), and Research Forum (AERF) • African Health Research Forum (AHRF) • International Science Programme (ISP) • Disease-specific • ALPHA network (Wellcome Trust) • ACRIA (JCRC) • ADARC • African AIDS Vaccine Programme (AAVP) (WHO) • INDEPTH/Malaria Clinical Trials alliance (MTCA) • African Regional Programme in Insect Science (ARPPIS)
Principles of effective Networks/partnerships I Initial set-up • Enthusiasm • Advance planning and consultation • Decide on objectives together; Formation of regional advisory groups - Regional ownership • Correct mix of short, medium and long-term goals • Build up mutual trust • Share responsibility, information and decision making • Clear division of roles and responsibilities • Division of labour relates to distribution of funds • Manage expectations
Principles of effective Networks/partnerships II Management • Strong management and coordination • Frequent communication and decision making transparency • Commitment of senior people to lead • High level support, but multi-level networking Ongoing Evaluation • Monitor and evaluate collaboration • Assessment of networks: Relevance; Goal fulfilment; Impact; Cost-effectiveness; Sustainability • Emphasis on getting research findings into policy and practice • Good partnerships with government
Discussion: South-South Networks • What are benefits and added value? • What are the barriers to establishment and sustainability? • What are some of the lessons learned and factors in success? • How do we assess whether a network is working? • Relevance, Goal fulfilment, Impact, Cost-effectiveness, and Sustainability • Specific network issues • Capacity building in research networks • Quality control in lab networks • Community engagement, and sharing of experience in clinical networks