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High quality statistics that improve lives globally
Office for National Statistics
High quality statistics and data are essential to enable evidence-based decision-making at local, national, and global levels. This ONS project supports its partners – national statistics offices (NSOs) in low- and middle-income countries – to strengthen their technical and organisational capacity, using its world leading expertise in statistical production and NSO management. Through a range of in-person and remote assistance, the project supports the production of higher quality, valuable and trustworthy statistics for the global good.
UK financial support to Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG)
HM Treasury
UK financial support through HM Treasury to support the strengthening of anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) systems in developing countries, in line with the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group's (ESAAMLG) Mission Statement and Strategic Plan. The support will contribute to regional efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing through effective implementation of anti-money laundering / counter terrorism financing (AML/CTF) standards in all ESAAMLG member countries covering: Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Establishing and enhancing veterinary surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This project aims to help establish effective surveillance for longer term capacity building for AMR in the terrestrial and aquatic veterinary sectors in selected LMICs, and to enhance veterinary medicines regulatory training.
Fleming Fund - Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship Scheme
UK - Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
A partnership programme to improve antimicrobial stewardship across Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria. The partnerships leverage the expertise of UK health institutions and technical experts to strengthen the capacity of the national health workforce and institutions to address predefined antimicrobial resistance (AMR) challenges. The project aims to 1. Develop partnerships between NHS Trusts (hospitals) and clinics/hospitals in low- and middle-income commonwealth countries. 2. Share UK expertise abroad as well as bring skills and knowledge back to NHS Trusts. 3. Create focused partnerships on the theme of AMR, that includes activity on; Antimicrobial stewardship, including surveillance (AMS); Infection prevention control and Antimicrobial pharmacy expertise and capacity; and 4. More generally improve the knowledge, skills and empowerment of healthcare professionals and pharmacists in partner institutions. Improving the healthcare workforce to ultimately contribute to a strengthened health system. Projects funded through the Fleming Fund will benefit people in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of drug resistant infection is greater
Global Health Workforce Programme - Global Health Partnerships (GHP)
UK - Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
This is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded UKaid project from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s Global Health Workforce Programme which provides strategic support to optimise, build and strengthen the health workforce in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), enabling them to build stronger and more resilient health systems for health security, and to make progress towards universal health coverage. This project is delivered in partnership with Global Health Partnerships (GHP) (formerly the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET)) to set up and deliver health partnerships between UK and in-country institutions in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Malawi and Somaliland.
Global Health Workforce Programme - World Health Organization (WHO)
UK - Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
This is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded UKaid project from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s Global Health Workforce Programme which provides strategic support to optimise, build and strengthen the health workforce in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), enabling them to build stronger and more resilient health systems for health security, and to make progress towards universal health coverage. This project is delivered in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) to optimise the health workforces in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria through improved workforce planning, policies, data and management. The programme also supports the WHO/ILO*/OECD** Working for Health Multi-Partner Trust Fund, which provides financial and technical support to improve health workforces and work towards achieving universal health coverage. (*International Labour Organization; **Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). This project was not put out to an open, competitive tender process because WHO has a unique mandate on human health and coordinates health workforce plans at regional and country level (something that no other organisation is able to do).
Fleming Fund - The Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) Programme
UK - Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
This is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded UKaid project from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s Fleming Fund which helps to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where the burden of drug-resistant infection is greater. This is a health partnership programme to improve antimicrobial stewardship across Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria. The partnerships leverage the expertise of UK health institutions and technical experts to strengthen the capacity of the national health workforce and institutions in partner countries to address AMR challenges. The project aims to: (1) Develop partnerships between NHS Trusts (hospitals) and clinics/hospitals in LMIC Commonwealth countries; (2) Share UK expertise abroad as well as bring skills and knowledge back to NHS Trusts; (3) Create focused partnerships on the theme of AMR, that includes activity on: Antimicrobial stewardship, including surveillance (AMS); Infection prevention control; and antimicrobial pharmacy expertise and capacity; and (4) More generally improve the knowledge, skills and empowerment of healthcare professionals and pharmacists in partner institutions, thus enabling the healthcare workforce to ultimately contribute to a strengthened health system. This project was not put out to an open, competitive tender process because the implementing partners were assessed as having a unique model of skills exchange and volunteer deployment tailored to antimicrobial stewardship in low- and middle-income countries, but with strong ties to the UK, allowing for skills exchanges and ongoing virtual partnerships. This was not replicated by any other organisation at the time of award.
Innovative Low Voltage Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) for Affordable Microgrid Distribution Infrastructure in Africa
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
A typical village in rural Uganda might have 225 houses, consume an average of 0.3kWh per day from a minigrid, and require 8km of distribution infrastructure (poles and cables) to connect all the spread out houses. The village in the UK in which we are based has 1250 houses, consuming (conservatively) 10kWh a day, and requiring just 4km of (identical) distribution infrastructure because of our high housing density. Our electricity tariffs are roughly the same (at $0.20/kWh). The UK village pays a combined total of just over $900k a year for electricity, which repays the cost of the distribution system within 2 weeks. The households in Uganda pay just under $5000 a year for electricity usage, and will therefore need more than 16 years to repay just the cost of the poles and cables, without even factoring in the cost of the electricity generation itself. More than anything else, it is the cost of distribution that kills the commercial viability of minigrids, and prevents remote households from being connected to electricity systems in offgrid rural communities in Africa. There has been little to no innovation in distribution to match the significant recent advances in generation and storage technologies and affordability. Single Wire Earth Return is a promising technology used for high voltage rural connections in the electricity grid in the US, Canada, South Africa, Mozambique, Laos, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. In this feasibility study we propose to adapt the technology to low voltage (230V) use in last mile connectivity in rural minigrids and test its performance in multiple locations and climate/soil conditions, collecting data to demonstrate its cost effectiveness and safety for users and the community in rural energy access. We estimate the technology could save as much as 70% of the cost of traditional distribution systems. We will also engage with local regulators and the international energy access community to introduce them to this technology, and encourage its uptake to enable wider energy access in remote communities and households, and lower energy tariffs in these communities. Partners SVRG (\>20 innovative rural energy systems in sub-Saharan Africa), MOSCET (foremost sustainable energy company and minigrid installed in Lesotho), Kiima Foods and OMASI (rural development NGOs with experience of \>40 community technology solutions) and electrical engineering experts National University of Lesotho Energy Research Centre are collaborating on this project to trial the technology in three communities and evaluate safety and cost-benefit.
(2REST) Responsibilities for Resilience Embedded in Street Temporalities: mapping street youth lived resiliences through analysis of secondary data
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
2REST aims to explore the experinces of homeless street youth and their resilient reponses to diffculties as they grow up in contexts of stress and vulnerability in African cities. Through secondary data analysis of the Growing up on the Streets qualitative data, the objective is to go beyond individual person-centred responses to stress and understand the multiple systems involved in overcoming difficulties over space and time as young people grow up. The resulting evidence will provide a better understanding of street youth resilience and all the factors involved. The 2REST project further aims to translate these findings and apply the learning to outcomes for policy and practice in order to improve street youth lives.
'Highlight' Health financing for universal health coverage in the era of shocks, monitoring risks and opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
"The proposed research draws on the World Health Organization framework for monitoring progress towards UHC. The framework identifies three areas for monitoring: financing arrangements; intermediate outcomes of efficiency and equity; and UHC goals of service coverage and affordable health expenditures. Our research applies this framework to assess health financing at the national and subnational levels in five Sub-Saharan African countries with varied degrees of fiscal decentralisation and income levels: Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Our research describes the evolution of health financing arrangements before and after COVID-19, and progress in relation to efficiency and equity of health financing and UHC goals. This research draws on routine household surveys, government and donor expenditure information systems, and global data from the World Health Organzaition and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development" COVID-19
Halophyte-based Energy & Agro-ecological Transitioning (HEAT)
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The Halophyte-based Energy & Agro-ecological Transitioning (HEAT) Project seeks to commercialise halophytic agro-ecological approaches and bio-energy technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa by introducing saltwater-irrigated biomass production in degraded soils for localised transitions to clean energy and land regeneration. Targeting both bio-energy production and carbon sequestration, the project will test a combined integrated production and processing model in tandem with a service-based business model with existing partners and investors with the aims of operationalising/commercialising the results by the end of the project timeline. The project will be undertaken in Ghana and Namibia with a range of partners from the UK, EU, and African registered entities with a track record of working together in various global geographies. With a strong focus on socio-economic development for rural communities, gender inclusivity, and safe access to clean energy, HEAT expects to exploit the results of the 24-month project for the long-term benefit of communities and existing consortia in the three focus regions of West Africa, South-West Africa, and South Asia.
Tackling antimicrobial resistance across dentistry in Sub-Saharan Africa.
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
What's the challenge? Tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is crucial for global health and sustainable development. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), like Ghana and Uganda, are particularly affected. UK Government has pledged to play a leading role in improving health to deliver a safer and more prosperous world, including through an improved response to AMR. Globally, dental professionals are responsible for one-in-ten antibiotic prescriptions across human healthcare. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), dental teams are among the highest prescribers of antibiotics, with some studies finding nine out of ten prescriptions outside of guidance. Dental teams in SSA have an essential role to play in keeping antibiotics working. What are the aims and objectives of our research? We aim to develop and test ways for dental teams to play their part in tackling AMR in SSA. Our first objective is to understand what influences unnecessary dental antibiotic use in Ghana and Uganda. Our second objective is to work with dental teams and patients as well as policy makers, healthcare service managers and the general public to develop an evidence-based way to reduce antibiotic prescribing by dental professionals. Our final objective is to prepare for an African-led clinical trial to test whether our proposed approach works. How are we approaching it? First, to understand what drives unnecessary antibiotic prescribing by dental professionals, we will ask a range of people and observe dental visits in hospitals and community healthcare settings in Ghana and Uganda. The observed dental teams and patients will be invited to interview to share their experience and insights about what influenced decision making during the visit. To gain wider perspectives on managing dental infections, policy makers, healthcare service managers and members of the public will be invited to take part in interviews and/or focus groups. Next, we will work with our stakeholders to develop evidence-based ways to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing using information gathered in the first stage. Whilst we are not yet sure what these interventions will be, we think they might relate to hygiene and sterilisation procedures in dental clinics, prescribing guidelines, and education for dental teams. Finally, we will undertake eight in-depth case studies in urban and more rural areas of Ghana and Uganda to check whether the intervention is acceptable to dental teams and patients, and to prepare for a clinical trial by testing some of the details needed to make a trial practical. What will be the applications and benefits? The study results will form the basis of a grant application to conduct a clinical trial that evaluates the impact of the interventions on safely reducing antibiotic prescribing by dental professionals across SSA whilst still addressing patients' dental issues. The benefits of this research include expanding scientific knowledge about the factors influencing antibiotic prescribing by dental professionals in LMICs. Developing interventions to reduce antibiotic prescribing is just the first step; further testing will be needed. Ultimately, by reducing antibiotic prescribing in dentistry, this research will have a positive impact on global health and sustainable development by addressing AMR. Publicity To ensure visibility of the study and its findings, our research team members and collaborators will engage our stakeholders and audience through various channels, including their expert professional networks, social and other media, academic publications/conferences, and more novel ways using local traditional arts, story, illustrations and visual aids. Lay members from the UK, Ghana and Uganda will help create a plain English summary (and translation to local languages) for the public, and will ensure messaging promotes broader understanding and awareness of the important role of dental teams to keep antibiotics working.
SAMRC-run UK South Africa call on climate, one health and zoonosis
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Six research projects have been supported focusing on emerging, re-emerging, and endemic zoonotic, vector-borne and other diseases and antimicrobial resistance that are linked to climate change and the environment. Projects will looks at the transmission dynamics of relevant diseases across various environmental settings and will look at methods for early detection and surveillance. This activity is led and delivered by SAMRC, who will issue research grants that are led by South African investigators with UK-based co-investigators and the opportunity to involve coinvestigators across Africa. Working in this way will promote equitable partnerships within the projects and ensure that the research funding delivers on the priorities of the primary beneficiary country involved (South Africa) as well as the possibility to deliver on the priorities of other beneficiary countries across Africa.
SAMRC-run UK South Africa call on Non-Communicable Diseases including Mental Health
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Five research projects have been supported to focus on NCDs and mental health. Projects will look to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms, presentation and progression and inform innovative prevention and treatment strategies. This activity is led and delivered by SAMRC, who will issue research grants that are led by South African investigators with UK-based co-investigators and the opportunity to involve coinvestigators across Africa. Working in this way will promote equitable partnerships within the projects and ensure that the research funding delivers on the priorities of the primary beneficiary country involved (South Africa) as well as the possibility to deliver on the priorities of other beneficiary countries across Africa.
Decolonising Peace Education In Africa
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Looking to expand peace education curricula in the context of everyday settings in rural areas facing conflict. Benefits education sector, practitioners, local communities, NGOs in Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. SDGs:4,16,17
British Council - South Africa Programmes -International Science Partnerships Fund
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The South Africa Research Initiative (SARChi) has previously launched significant programs, such as the Bilateral and Trilateral Research Chairs and the South Africa (SA). University Staff Doctoral Programme, aimed at increasing the number of black and female academics with PhDs in South Africa, thereby driving systemic reforms. This initiative now encompasses two new activities: the Sub-Sahara African Analysis Centre (SASAC) Programme, which promotes regional research collaborations and capacity building for students, scholars, and academics from South Africa and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Research Commercialisation Capacity Strengthening Programme, designed in collaboration with Universities South Africa, to facilitate the transfer of academic research into practical products and services that benefit society and the economy. The SARChI chair themes focus on critical areas such as marine ecosystems, food security, gender inclusivity, and clean energy, and these chairs are established in partnership with UK universities. The programme supports the enhancement of research practices and policies, expands research impact in the region, and strengthens research capacities, particularly in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The initiative is ODA eligible as its primary objective is to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries, ensuring the benefits are specifically directed towards enhancing academic and research capacities in these regions.
Building Equitable African Partnerships
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The project aims to establish African-led equitable partnerships focusing on gender, conflict, and creative economies. Building on ten years of previous work in East and Southern Africa, it employs decolonial methodologies and participatory methods. The initiative spans Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda, and Lesotho, engaging local communities, activists, grassroots organizations, and stakeholders for broad-based participation and impact. Key themes include digital humanities and the creative economy, women and girls, and conflict/post-conflict humanitarian protection and modern slavery. The project acknowledges the digital divide while promoting inclusivity, primarily focusing on the creative economy. It emphasizes gender equality, addressing challenges faced by women and girls in conflict settings, and explores initiatives to combat modern slavery and promote peacebuilding. The methodology involves comprehensive stakeholder and rights holders identification and engagement, using open calls and mapping to include disadvantaged groups and historically disadvantaged universities. Standards for decolonization ensure equitable management, ethics, data sovereignty, and dissemination. Risk mitigation addresses potential exploitation, inter-group dynamics, and controversial topics through active listening and transparency. The project is divided into four phases: workshop preparation (July - October 2024), two-day workshops (October-November 2024), co-producing outputs (December 2024 - March 2025), and ongoing meetings for future actions (April and May 2025). Gender equality is central, ensuring equal opportunities for participation, leadership, and decision-making. Targeted outreach and a gender-sensitive budget facilitate the involvement of women and underrepresented genders. The project promotes gender equality, reducing discrimination, and fostering solidarity among women. A comprehensive risk assessment and monitoring mechanisms address potential negative impacts on gender equality. The project aims to stimulate innovation, build local capacities, empower marginalized groups, and create sustainable impacts. By enhancing gender equality and fostering relationships between policymakers, decision-makers, civil society, and government officials, it contributes to Sustainable Development Goals like gender equality, decent work and economic growth, and partnerships for the goals.
NbS programme non-grant expenditure
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Programme level costs for the NbS (Equitable nature-based climate resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa) for programme coordination and data management activities.
Designing an intervention for snakebite prevention; a community-based participatory research approach
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
MRC AGHRB Award to design an intervention to prevent snakebite in Rwanda and Eswatini that will subsequently be evaluated, potentially using a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial
Recognising & supporting informal mhealth in Africa through grassroots interventions (REIMAGINE)
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
MRC AGHRB award to develop and trial a participatory intervention, to build on and support community health workers' (CHWs') "informal" use of personal mobile devices in their work in Ethiopia, Ghana and Malawi. A pre/post study design is used to assess acceptability, feasibility, costs and impacts of the intervention.