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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.
Funding to build capacity and support cross-border action on the conservation of wildlife within countries in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The funding will be used to support KAZA countries to develop African-led trans-frontier approaches to support conservation of wildlife, including iconic species such as elephants through efforts in integrated land-use planning, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, community livelihoods and illegal wildlife trade. This funding will be used to provide technical assistance and build capacity within the KAZA countries to address areas for immediate action, provide a foundation for future work programmes and support access to wider funding options.
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
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.
Royal Academy of Engineering - Higher Education Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa -International Science Partnerships Fund
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The Higher Education Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa (HEP SSA) addresses the urgent engineering skills gap in sub-Saharan Africa by aligning higher education with industry requirements. Through grants to universities for projects spanning six months to two years, the program enhances academia-industry relationships, producing engineers with the skills and knowledge to meet local challenges and industry demands. Utilizing a hub and spoke model, HEP SSA maximizes impact through bilateral secondments with local industry partners and spreads knowledge to regional universities via workshops, reports, and other collaborative activities. Partnering with UK universities, HEP SSA not only strengthens engineering education but also highlights engineering's role in economic development. This initiative supports the International Science Partnerships Fund's (ISPF) mission to empower institutions in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) to address global challenges with a well-trained workforce focused on locally relevant research and innovation. By building the capacity of universities in ODA-eligible countries to produce employable engineering graduates, the program ensures these graduates contribute to sustainable community and national development. This positions the UK as a preferred partner in achieving the primary goal of Official Development Assistance (ODA) purposes: fostering sustainable development and improving the quality of life in developing countries.
Royal Academy of Engineering - Africa Catalyst -International Science Partnerships Fund
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Africa Catalyst aims to strengthen professional engineering bodies in sub-Saharan Africa, ensuring these institutions can effectively promote the engineering profession, share best practices, and enhance local engineering capacity to drive development. This initiative awards grants to professional engineering bodies in ODA eligible sub-Saharan African countries for projects lasting between six months and three years. The primary objective of this ODA-eligible program is to catalyze and bolster these professional bodies, ensuring they become robust institutions capable of leading the profession locally, with strong Continuing Professional Development (CPD), accreditation systems, and governmental linkages. By partnering with UK counterparts who have advanced further in institutional development, African bodies can learn and share best practices tailored to their local contexts. This program is designed to support sustainable development by enhancing the professional capabilities of engineers who, in turn, contribute to the development of their communities and countries. The focus on building capacity in ODA eligible countries aligns with the overarching goals of ODA to promote economic development and welfare, ensuring the program's alignment with international aid objectives.
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.
(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.
Understanding phenotype and mechanisms of spontaneous preterm birth in sub-Saharan Africa (PRECISE-SPTB)
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Preterm birth, birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is a major cause of infant death and illness in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 80% of preterm births globally have been estimated to occur in sub-Saharan African (sSA) and Asian countries, the majority being due to women going into preterm labour spontaneously or their membranes (waters) rupture early (classified together as spontaneous preterm birth, SPTB). Despite knowledge of the global impact of SPTB, most of the research into this often devastating pregnancy outcome has focussed on pregnant women in high income countries such as the UK and USA. Much less in known about SPTB in women from low income countries. However, the underlying biological causes of SPTB are complex and heavily influenced by environment, nutrition, infection and other risk factors that pregnant women are exposed to. Region specific research is essential if we are to improve maternal and newborn healthcare in countries where the burden of preterm birth is highest. Addressing this need, we plan to study to clinical and social risk factors (from 5000 women recruited to the PRECISE Network pregnancy cohort, https://precisenetwork.org/) combined with biological markers of SPTB in the female reproductive tract, blood and placental tissue in women from Kenya, The Gambia and Mozambique. We will integrate these data to enhance our biological understanding of SPTB as well as identifying novel biomarkers relevant to sub-Saharan African populations to predict risk of SPTB. We will also create sustainable teams of SPTB researchers by training five new African scientists and supporting their supervisor as research leaders. We will, with colleagues in The Gambia, establish a bioinformatics training programme and a laboratory science network for our researchers in Sub Saharan Africa and the UK. We anticipate that this work will impact future strategies for clinical risk management, prevention and treatment that specifically addresses the needs of women in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as having potential relevance to SPTB globally.
Developing effective rodent control strategies to reduce disease risk in ecologically and culturally diverse rural landscapes
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Diseases transmitted from rodents to humans are a serious threat to health, with the highest risk in low-income countries. The risk from rodent-borne infections (RBI) depends on the abundance of infected rodents, as well as how socio-cultural practices and beliefs influence human-rodent interactions. Many rodent species implicated in disease transmission are also pests that feed on crops and stored food, and consequently management to reduce rodent numbers could have a wide impact on health and well-being. However, controlling rodent populations effectively is challenging. Breeding and movement from adjacent populations may rapidly cancel out the impact of control. Innovative approaches that exploit ecological understanding of where and when rodents breed have been developed in the agricultural sector, primarily in Asia, with communities working together to target control and significantly reduce crop damage. However, such techniques are poorly developed in Africa, and their potential to reduce the risk from RBI is unknown. In some circumstances, changes to rodent movements following control could increase disease transmission and prevalence in rodent populations, potentially increasing risk to humans. Ultimately, this project aims to reduce the risk from RBI in Africa by increasing the knowledge and expertise needed to develop holistic rodent management applicable for local conditions and communities. Working with communities in Tanzania and Madagascar, in the first stage of the project we will address specific unanswered questions, whilst in the second phase we will develop and test rodent management strategies. Two questions we will address are: how do rodent movements change after localised control, and how does control influence the prevalence of RBI in rodent populations? To make sure our approach is widely relevant, we will work with rodent species and diseases that have large impacts and contrasting ecologies. We will focus on the multi-mammate mouse, a key pest species in Africa, and the black rat, a globally important invasive pest, and consider three RBI: plague, leptospirosis and rickettsioses, which differ in key aspects of their epidemiology. We will combine field studies with sophisticated computer models to explore how control in different locations and at different times of the year impacts on rodent movement, abundance and the prevalence of RBI. The results will provide important insights into how ecological and epidemiological factors influence the impact of different control strategies on RBI and rodent damage. We will also work with local communities using a range of approaches to address three further questions: how do communities perceive the health threat from rodents, how do communities currently interact with and manage rodents, and how feasible are different management strategies? As effective control strategies have to be accepted and sustainable for local communities, we need to understand local perceptions and practices. For example, high labour requirements during specific key periods in the agricultural cycle may mean that some rodent control strategies are not feasible. The insights from this research during the first phase of the project will be used to inform the development of community-led trials of rodent management strategies. The impact of these trials on rodent abundance and the prevalence of RBI will be monitored, and the results used to refine and test our computer models. We will use this comparative study to identify common features that determine the effectiveness or uptake of a strategy. To ensure our research informs policies, we will conduct workshops with service providers involved in agriculture, health and the environment. Across these sectors we will explore current attitudes, policies and communication practices, and provide training in adaptive management approaches. Our project will also build research capacity through collaboration and training.
DARA Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy Phase 3
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
This proposal is to continue, deepen and expand the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) project. DARA is a human capital development programme with the principal aim to develop high tech skills in radio astronomy in the eight developing African countries that partner with South Africa in the hosting of the mid-frequency telescope of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The first two phases utilized the Newton Fund and delivered a basic training to over 300 young people as well as Masters and PhD level training. This proposal is once again a bilateral UK-SA project bidding for Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding as part of the Tomorrow's Talent strand of the new International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF). In this new phase we will extend the HCD pipeline to establish postdoctoral fellows in African partner institutions for the first time. The aim is to complete the establishment of radio astronomy research groups in each partner country so that their citizens can fully engage with the SKA project. We will also continue the basic and Masters level training programme. This third phase will also encompass elements of the DARA Big Data sister project to deepen the training in machine learning techniques required to analyse SKA data and embed synergies with Earth Observation data. We will also continue and expand our partnership with the space sector to showcase how the skills of radio astronomy can be utilized to address development challenges in Africa. The industrial partners also bring entrepreneurship and business start-up experience. Overall, the DARA project addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of increasing high tech skills, research activity and international cooperation.
Sustainable Plastic Attitudes to benefit Communities and their Environments (SPACES)
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Between 400,000 and 1 million people die each year in LMICs due to diseases related to mismanaged waste. Waste management is, however, a complex area, which affects multiple stakeholders, such as manufacturers, distributors, retailers, households, the recycling industry, informal waste pickers and local governments, and therefore requires an integrated approach. Malawi and Tanzania are two of the world's poorest countries, yet the consumption of plastics has exploded in the last decade. Tanzania and Malawi make important case-study countries because of their recent governmental responses to plastic bags, and their contrasting policy landscapes in terms of tackling plastic wastes. In many cities in sub-Saharan Africa, plastic wastes, and plastic bags in particular, block urban drainage systems. During rain events this leads to localised flooding, with an increased risk of human exposure to raw sewage and the spread of waterborne pathogens within highly populated areas. Plastic waste can also act as a transient receptacle for rainwater and thus provide a larval habitat for mosquitoes. Therefore, the negative impacts of plastic pollution on human health can include the spread of pathogens such as cholera and typhoid, and the provision of transient receptacles for breeding mosquitoes that can carry diseases such as malaria and Zika virus. In parallel, the consequences of living with significant levels of environmental plastic pollution can negatively affect mental health and well-being. However, despite wide-scale recognition of the need for LMIC governments to invest more thoroughly in solid waste management, this remains a low funding priority area, with fragmented responsibility between departments and a lack of time or technical expertise to negotiate suitable waste management strategies. Typically, governments, communities and individuals in sub-Saharan countries prioritise health-care, and food and water security, followed by employment, education and housing. Plastic pollution rarely registers as something important enough to re-direct valuable resources away from these more pressing challenges. However, we argue that waste management is inextricably linked to health and should not be treated as a separate issue. By characterising how people interact with plastics on a day-by-day basis, the SPACES project will provide the framework needed to build circular economies with improved, more sustainable development pathways and new economic opportunities, and have far-reaching implications for human health and well-being, ecosystem services and economic stability in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Quantitative and qualitative mixed methods approaches will be developed to understand what socioeconomic and political obstacles exist for incentivising governments to remove plastic waste and increase sustainable waste disposal. Novel strategies for intervention, mitigation and sustainable adaptation by local communities will be co-developed using extensive behavioural economics and anthropological methods in tandem with environmental, biological, epidemiological and geographical approaches. Working with a range of local recycling associations and entrepreneurs, together with local government and council leaders, the SPACES project will provide both the evidence and incentives that will allow individuals, communities, business leaders and national decision-makers to foster a sustained change in attitudes for tackling the challenges of plastic waste in the environment. In turn delivering a step change towards enabling a cleaner, more resilient and more productive environment.
Nutrition and the epigenome: early environmental factors influencing human developmental programming
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
iMRC PSMB award seeking to better understand HOW diet affects the laying down of these methylation marks, WHICH areas of the methylome are especially sensitive to such influences, HOW they influence the development of the placenta and fetus, and ultimately WHAT effects these changes have on the baby's development and life-long health. This activity benefits Malawi;Uganda.
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
The Political Economy of Education Research (PEER) Network
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Almost half of all children who are out of school live in conflict affected countries (at least 27 million children in 24 countries). Children in these countries are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and countries with conflict have some of the lowest literacy levels in the world and the largest inequalities between girls and boys, rich and poor. Good quality education can protect children in the midst of violence and provide life-saving messages concerning health and safety, as well as the knowledge, skills and attitudes to survive, recover and rebuild their society after conflict. Yet, education is often given a low priority in situations of conflict. We know that modern conflicts can last more than 20 years and often involve multiple armed groups competing for control of government institutions [such as schools], natural resources and territory. This also means that provision of education can be highly politicised in situations of conflict and this can prevent much needed assistance reaching those who need it most - it is usually the poorest or most marginalised who suffer the worst consequences of violent conflict. Education is usually considered 'a good thing', but we know that in certain circumstances education may actually be 'part of the problem' as well as 'part of the solution'. For example, unequal access to education and distribution of education resources may fuel grievances between groups in society, particularly if they are already in conflict. Exclusion of minority voices from decision-making will cause resentment. Insensitive or politically biased education policies in terms of the language of instruction or content of the curriculum may create mistrust between different ethnic, religious or cultural groups by fuelling stereotypes, xenophobia and other antagonisms. We therefore need to better understand the underlying political, economic and social reasons why education may sometimes aggravate conflict. This is known as Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and is highly relevant to the provision of education in conflict affected countries. However, there are problems with current approaches. There is a reliance on international consultants to undertake 'one-off' assessments that lack sensitivity to local history, politics, culture and knowledge of power-relations that are better conveyed in local languages. There is also a tendency to ignore the impact that international agencies have on national policies and practices, and the different political circumstances that operate in different parts of a country. There is often a reluctance to raise critical questions about education provision because they are too sensitive or may challenge vested interests. These severely limit the potential of analysis to improve the planning and development of socially just education systems. The PEER Network is a three-year initiative led by four universities (Ulster, Cape Town, Nazarbayev and Sussex) aimed at improving the quality of PEA in partnership with academics, policymakers and practitioners in conflict affected countries. By the end of the project we aim to have made an impact by: - Establishing two regional hubs of PEA expertise across conflict affected countries in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa - Bringing together 40 policymakers, practitioners and academics to develop PEA tools, knowledge and expertise - Commissioning at least 20 research studies worth £800,000 to create locally owned knowledge bases - Making all the tools and resources freely available online to students, researchers and practitioners - Supporting a new generation to undertake political economy analysis of education systems in their own contexts - Influencing change in global practice in PEA for the benefit of children and young people in conflict affected countries
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
The Political Economy of Education Research (PEER) Network
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Almost half of all children who are out of school live in conflict affected countries (at least 27 million children in 24 countries). Children in these countries are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and countries with conflict have some of the lowest literacy levels in the world and the largest inequalities between girls and boys, rich and poor. Good quality education can protect children in the midst of violence and provide life-saving messages concerning health and safety, as well as the knowledge, skills and attitudes to survive, recover and rebuild their society after conflict. Yet, education is often given a low priority in situations of conflict. We know that modern conflicts can last more than 20 years and often involve multiple armed groups competing for control of government institutions [such as schools], natural resources and territory. This also means that provision of education can be highly politicised in situations of conflict and this can prevent much needed assistance reaching those who need it most - it is usually the poorest or most marginalised who suffer the worst consequences of violent conflict. Education is usually considered 'a good thing', but we know that in certain circumstances education may actually be 'part of the problem' as well as 'part of the solution'. For example, unequal access to education and distribution of education resources may fuel grievances between groups in society, particularly if they are already in conflict. Exclusion of minority voices from decision-making will cause resentment. Insensitive or politically biased education policies in terms of the language of instruction or content of the curriculum may create mistrust between different ethnic, religious or cultural groups by fuelling stereotypes, xenophobia and other antagonisms. We therefore need to better understand the underlying political, economic and social reasons why education may sometimes aggravate conflict. This is known as Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and is highly relevant to the provision of education in conflict affected countries. However, there are problems with current approaches. There is a reliance on international consultants to undertake 'one-off' assessments that lack sensitivity to local history, politics, culture and knowledge of power-relations that are better conveyed in local languages. There is also a tendency to ignore the impact that international agencies have on national policies and practices, and the different political circumstances that operate in different parts of a country. There is often a reluctance to raise critical questions about education provision because they are too sensitive or may challenge vested interests. These severely limit the potential of analysis to improve the planning and development of socially just education systems. The PEER Network is a three-year initiative led by four universities (Ulster, Cape Town, Nazarbayev and Sussex) aimed at improving the quality of PEA in partnership with academics, policymakers and practitioners in conflict affected countries. By the end of the project we aim to have made an impact by: - Establishing two regional hubs of PEA expertise across conflict affected countries in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa - Bringing together 40 policymakers, practitioners and academics to develop PEA tools, knowledge and expertise - Commissioning at least 20 research studies worth £800,000 to create locally owned knowledge bases - Making all the tools and resources freely available online to students, researchers and practitioners - Supporting a new generation to undertake political economy analysis of education systems in their own contexts - Influencing change in global practice in PEA for the benefit of children and young people in conflict affected countries
The Political Economy of Education Research (PEER) Network
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Almost half of all children who are out of school live in conflict affected countries (at least 27 million children in 24 countries). Children in these countries are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and countries with conflict have some of the lowest literacy levels in the world and the largest inequalities between girls and boys, rich and poor. Good quality education can protect children in the midst of violence and provide life-saving messages concerning health and safety, as well as the knowledge, skills and attitudes to survive, recover and rebuild their society after conflict. Yet, education is often given a low priority in situations of conflict. We know that modern conflicts can last more than 20 years and often involve multiple armed groups competing for control of government institutions [such as schools], natural resources and territory. This also means that provision of education can be highly politicised in situations of conflict and this can prevent much needed assistance reaching those who need it most - it is usually the poorest or most marginalised who suffer the worst consequences of violent conflict. Education is usually considered 'a good thing', but we know that in certain circumstances education may actually be 'part of the problem' as well as 'part of the solution'. For example, unequal access to education and distribution of education resources may fuel grievances between groups in society, particularly if they are already in conflict. Exclusion of minority voices from decision-making will cause resentment. Insensitive or politically biased education policies in terms of the language of instruction or content of the curriculum may create mistrust between different ethnic, religious or cultural groups by fuelling stereotypes, xenophobia and other antagonisms. We therefore need to better understand the underlying political, economic and social reasons why education may sometimes aggravate conflict. This is known as Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and is highly relevant to the provision of education in conflict affected countries. However, there are problems with current approaches. There is a reliance on international consultants to undertake 'one-off' assessments that lack sensitivity to local history, politics, culture and knowledge of power-relations that are better conveyed in local languages. There is also a tendency to ignore the impact that international agencies have on national policies and practices, and the different political circumstances that operate in different parts of a country. There is often a reluctance to raise critical questions about education provision because they are too sensitive or may challenge vested interests. These severely limit the potential of analysis to improve the planning and development of socially just education systems. The PEER Network is a three-year initiative led by four universities (Ulster, Cape Town, Nazarbayev and Sussex) aimed at improving the quality of PEA in partnership with academics, policymakers and practitioners in conflict affected countries. By the end of the project we aim to have made an impact by: - Establishing two regional hubs of PEA expertise across conflict affected countries in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa - Bringing together 40 policymakers, practitioners and academics to develop PEA tools, knowledge and expertise - Commissioning at least 20 research studies worth £800,000 to create locally owned knowledge bases - Making all the tools and resources freely available online to students, researchers and practitioners - Supporting a new generation to undertake political economy analysis of education systems in their own contexts - Influencing change in global practice in PEA for the benefit of children and young people in conflict affected countries