South-South Partnerships Research Articles

The Status of the Social Fact

The Status of the Social Fact

Harnessing the power of South-South partnerships to build capacity for the prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence

Research on primary prevention of violence against women (VAW) and children (VAC) is a rapidly growing priority. The burgeoning evidence base remains small, and is particularly limited in low and middle income settings. More research from low and middle income countries on effectiveness and reliability of prevention efforts and how to sustain them at scale is needed. Limited capacity in the global South for research on VAW and VAC prevention and intervention development and opportunities for South-South partnerships and learning is a potential barrier to the further development of the field. This paper describes a transnational South-South partnership capacity building project in East Africa for primary prevention research and intervention development. It provides important insights and lessons learned for others considering undertaking similar types of projects. Keywords : Violence against women; violence against children; violence prevention; capacity building; transnational.

Cabo Verde: Entre as Estratégias de Segurança Euro-Atlantica e a Nova Dimensão de Parceria Sul-Sul

The article discusses the role of Cape Verde on Euro-Atlantic security and the development of a new dimension of South-South partnership. With the intensification of threats and risks in the global security environment, Cape Verde although being territorially and small and lacking in resources, economically dependent, can contribute to the Atlantic as a corridor of peace and political stability.

Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease in Liberia: A Pilot Study.

In malaria-endemic countries in West Africa, sickle cell disease (SCD) contributes to childhood mortality. Historically, Liberia had regions wherein hemoglobin S and beta-thalassemia trait were mutually exclusive. Data on hemoglobinopathies in the Monrovia, the capital, are outdated and do not reflect urban migration. Updating the epidemiology of SCD is necessary to plan a public health and clinical agenda. Neither newborn screening (NBS) nor screening tools were available in country. This pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility of NBS using a South-South partnership and define the incidence of sickle cell trait (SCT) and SCD in Monrovia. This descriptive epidemiologic feasibility study collected dried blood spots from 2,785 consecutive newborns delivered at a hospital in Monrovia. Samples were analyzed by isoelectric focusing at a regional reference laboratory. Infants with SCD were referred for preventive care. SCT occurred in 10.31% of infants screened. SCD occurred in 33 infants screened [1.19% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79-1.59%)] (FS: 28/33, FSB: 2/33, FSA: 2/33, FSX: 1/33). There were no infants with FSC phenotype observed. Nonsickling hemoglobin phenotypes "FC" and "F" were each present in three infants screened. Seventy-six percent of infants with SCD were brought to care, demonstrating the feasibility of our approach. The incidence of SCD and other hemoglobinopathies remains high in Liberia. Additional studies are needed to clarify sickle genotypes and identify the contribution of silent beta-thalassemia alleles. By developing regional partnerships, countries similar to Liberia can acquire current data to inform NBS as an important public health initiative toward improving child health.

The eNutrition Academy: Supporting a New Generation of Nutritional Scientists around the World.

Nutrition training and building capacity to provide a competent workforce to support national and regional efforts to combat malnutrition remain a major challenge in Africa and other developing regions of the world. The capacity to provide the necessary intellectual drive for nutrition research, policy, and practice in countries lacking in readiness for nutrition actions is imperative to improve the health of their people. To help address this need, the eNutrition Academy (eNA) was formed as a global partnership organization by the African Nutrition Society, the Federation of African Nutrition Societies, the Nutrition Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the ASN, and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, supported by Cambridge University Press. The primary objective of this partnership is to provide an online learning platform that is free to access, enabling users to benefit from a wide range of learning materials from basic tools to more-advanced learning materials for teachers and researchers in developing countries. The goal of this article was to summarize the findings of a symposium held at the ASN Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2015, which explored the themes of international capacity development, with a particular focus on the African continent, online learning, and the eNA e-learning platform. Given the vast human capacity present in Africa that is poised to create new solutions to address the public health needs of the continent, now is an opportune time to establish South-North and South-South partnerships to develop the next generation of African nutritional scientists.

An Investigation into Financing for Sustainable Development in the Global Partnership

Financing needs for sustainable development are enormous, but small compared to global financial assets. Redirecting a small percentage of these assets toward sustainable development could have an enormous impact. Domestic and external sources, including both public and private flows, have to be mobilized. These should be regarded as complements, not substitutes as each has unique objectives and attributes. Forging a global partnership for financing sustainable development involves a fine balance between economic, social and environmental needs of various stakeholders. The partnership must improve the international allocation of resources for sustainable development across all relevant areas, stakeholders and processes of the post-2015 development agenda while at the same time providing a framework for development cooperation to ensure sufficient financing for sustainable development. In this context, this partnership should put in place collective mechanisms in order to ensure that the rules, institutions, and governance of the “global economic engine” are geared to enable sustainable outcomes as a whole. This paper aims to highlight two major objectives for the partnership for the financing of sustainable development, as well as concrete partnership goals to achieve them:The partnership must ensure coherence and coordination between different policy processes, institutions and stakeholders at the systemic level. Increased cooperation and coordination would promote a more coherent international financial architecture that supports sustainable development.The partnership must help increase the mobilization and improve the allocation of resources for sustainable development across all relevant areas, stakeholders and processes of the post-2015 development agenda while at the same time providing a framework for development cooperation.Furthermore, the paper suggests some concrete goals for partnerships on the mobilization of three sources for financing sustainable development: (a) mobilizing domestic public and private resources for development; (b) mobilizing external private resources; and (c) mobilizing external public resources and improving development cooperation. Secondary data have been used in the paper and methodology of analysis is secondary in nature. The paper concludes that people, as consumers and producers, will need to contribute to mitigation efforts, and people will need to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In this context, efforts to channel funds into technological solutions are critical, but must be complemented by efforts to strengthen the capacity of people to mitigate and adapt to a changing environment. Consequently, the global partnership on sustainable development finance requires donors to invest in health and education, and human capital more broadly, but also to promote special efforts to aid the most vulnerable populations. Important current initiatives in this connection include programs that channel climate and environmental finance to smallholder farmers so that they can increase their resilience and increase agricultural output while at the same time reducing and diversifying climate-related risks. As for ‘adaptation’, it is essential that more attention is given to the integration of demographic, social, economic and environmental data within geographical information systems. This would help to identify vulnerable areas, as well as populations, and encourage more effective policies to decrease vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience. Finally, the global partnership should also encompass and further promote other non-financial modalities for supporting sustainable development. This should include in-kind contributions (human resources as seconded personnel or volunteers; equipment or media related products and services), exchange of skills and best practices, particularly through South-South and triangular partnerships. Peer learning as well as knowledge, experience and technology sharing should result in new development of partnerships.

Growing partnerships: leveraging the power of collaboration through the Medical Education Partnership Initiative.

A major goal of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is to improve local health systems by strengthening medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa. A new approach to collaboration was intended to overcome the one-sided nature of many partnerships that often provide more rewards to institutions from wealthy countries than to their Sub-Saharan African counterparts. The benefits of this MEPI approach are reflected in at least five positive outcomes. First, effective partnerships have been developed across a diverse group of MEPI stakeholders. Second, a "community of practice" has been established to continue strengthening medical education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Third, links have been strengthened among MEPI health science schools in Sub-Saharan Africa, their communities, and ministries of both health and education. Fourth, respect among partners in the United States for a culture of ownership and self-determinism among their African counterparts committed to improving education has been enhanced. And finally, performance metrics for strengthening of health science education in Sub-Saharan Africa have been advanced. Meanwhile, partner medical schools in the United States have witnessed the benefits of collaborating across traditional disciplinary boundaries, such as physicians working within highly functioning community-based health care teams with many of the participating schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. MEPI demonstrates that North-South as well as South-South partnerships, with an explicit focus on improving local health systems through better education, can be designed to empower partners in the South with support from collaborators in the North.

A global perspective on sickle cell disease

The global burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) is now being increasingly realized. SCD poses a significant public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, some regions of India, the Caribbean, and Brazil. In many of these regions, progress in the management of SCD has been slow. Long-term North-South and South-South partnerships between SCD professionals, funding agencies, governments, and industry are needed to help reduce the high disease burden in developing countries, through widespread SCD education, relevant research and implementation of evidence-based cost-effective interventions. A group of SCD professionals have responded with action by forming a global network.

BRAC in Afghanistan: Building South-South partnerships in teacher training

Training paraprofessionals such as teachers is one of many significant challenges facing Afghanistan’s educational system. This case study focuses on the innovations offered in that regard by BRAC, a large NGO based in Bangladesh that brought its many years of development experience to Afghanistan in 2002 and established itself there as the premier change agent on multiple developmental fronts. Through the use of structured and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, classroom observations, and extensive document analysis, the authors conclude that by successfully modifying its teacher training programme in Bangladesh, BRAC has been able to develop an approach to teacher training in Afghanistan that may become a showcase example of effective South-South partnership in education. The article concludes by urging adoption of BRAC’s innovations in teacher training and recruitment by other developing nations facing similar challenges.

Developing the Capacity of Post-Conflict Countries through South-South Partnerships

Following years of war and devastation, the citizens of post-conflict countries look to the government with high expectations for a better quality of life. These countries, however, face severe institutional and human capacity constraints and normally have no other option than turning to donors for help in reconstructing their societies.

Brazil’s 'Biofuels Diplomacy' in Africa: A Model for South-South Collaboration?

Brazil has been and continues to be one of the global leaders in biofuel production. Half of Brazil’s sugar-cane feedstock production goes towards ethanol production. This paper focuses on the evolving diplomatic relations between Brazil and various African countries to promote the development of biofuels technology as an alternative and renewable source of energy. A cursory search on the Internet for 'Brazil Africa biofuels' provides an immense amount of information on the biofuel-related activities taking place across the Atlantic. Brazil’s foreign relations with Africa have been getting stronger, especially since Brazilian Labor Party President Lula da Silva came into power in 2003 In addition to the biofuels market, Brazil has also been active in organizing capacity building workshops about biofuels amongst African regional political organizations at the highest level. Africa leaders think that the South-South partnership such as the one Brazil is pursuing in Africa is a way of maximizing African interests. Like China, Brazil is being used by African governments to counter the traditional colonial and neo-colonial economic domination by Europe of its key infrastructures. The diversification of development partners is something that is desirable. However, African policy makers must be prepared to cope with unintended consequences of the rush to embrace a new technology. To minimize those adverse side effects, biofuels strategies should incorporate adequate environmental and societal impact assessments including protection of farmers from being removed from their land and the protection of ecosystems from loss of biodiversity in the face of putting land into biofuels production.

Civil Society Organizations and Brazilian South-South AIDS Cooperation

Exploring the implications of globalization for AIDS governance, this paper examines the Brazilian National AIDS Program, which is considered one of the foremost success stories in the world, combining educational programs, prevention, and free universal distribution of antiretroviral therapy. I scrutinize the different roles of the state, civil society, and the pharmaceutical industry and put special emphasis on the emergence of south-south cooperation, both by the government and by civil society organizations since Brazilian AIDS Governance is embedded in a global context. Globalization has opened considerable possibilities for civil society organizations to engage directly with realms beyond the state, thus several newly created south-south partnerships are evaluated. Further, the paper discusses civil society organizations from the standpoint of whether they live up to the expectations that underpin their political and democratic legitimacy.

Scarcity and inequity of mental health research resources in low-and-middle income countries: A global survey

To map mental health research capacity and resources in low-and-middle-income countries (LAMIC) for the years 1993-2003. Mental health researchers from 114 LAMIC in three continents were identified through their publications in two databases (Medline and PsycInfo) and from local grey literature. A questionnaire was developed and sent to authors to elicit information about researchers' background, available resources and details of up to three recent projects. 4208 researchers from 83 countries were identified through 6340 mental health indexed-publications and 3598 publications from the grey literature. 912 researchers from 52 countries completed the questionnaires. Researchers and publications were concentrated in 10% of the countries. Respondents reported participation in 1847 projects, most of which were devoted to depression and anxiety disorders, substance misuse and psychoses. Epidemiologic studies, social, psychological and clinical research accounted for 80% of all projects. Two-thirds of projects had received external funding, and less than one-third of them were conducted in collaboration with other countries. Mental health research capacity is scarce and unequally distributed in LAMIC. Global agencies for health research as well as LAMIC with higher concentrations of researchers and scientific output should play a more decisive role in strengthening the capacity of other LAMIC enhancing South-South partnerships and networks.

P06-05. Building capacity for HIV/AIDS prevention trials in Africa: Evidence from three projects supported by the Global Health Research Initiative

Methods The three teams are using diverse but complementary capacity building approaches with a mix of African-Canadian and African-African research partnerships. In West Africa, a Benin-Canada partnership is strengthening capacity for clinical trials by: 1) training African investigators; 2) supporting the creation of the national Ethics Committee for health research in Benin; and 3) supporting the creation of a HIV/STI Prevention Research Unit within the Faculty of Health Sciences in Benin. A second Africa-Canada team created and supported the CanadaAfrica Prevention Trials (CAPT) network which facilitates north-south and south-south research partnerships in this domain. The third team used the grant to build the African Development of AIDS Prevention Trial (ADAPT) capacity program. This program is strengthening the capacities of local health systems to design, conduct, and use the evidence from large-scale AIDS prevention trials in southern Africa. Results These three projects are helping to build African capacity to undertake HIV/AIDS clinical trials in Africa by: 1) combining capacity building strategies both at the individual institutional levels and 2) strengthening a range of skills and knowledge that includes epidemiology, community and stakeholder engagement, research management, research ethics and grant writing.

Impending Flop for Brand Antiretrovirals in the Emerging Markets?

Forecasts from Country choices, South-South partnerships and Clinton Foundation-UNITAID coalition show that present policies for brand ARVs are at the risk of flop in emerging South markets such as India, China, Thailand and Brazil.The dynamics explored in this article highlight the risks the originator companies are running in the emerging markets, along with their interest in direct agreements with the generic industry for the manufacturing and marketing of ARVs.Resulting information here would suggest the brand enterprises: To look for fast registration of their ARVs by regulatory authorities in all countries enlisted for differential pricing.To secure all formulations differentiated prices.To align with the Clinton-UNITAID prices for the corresponding generics.To pursue flexible negotiations with the generic companies to secure both counterparts long-term advantages.

Animal Health Research

![Figure][1] Today's intimate and rapid global interconnections mean that uncontrolled infectious diseases in one part of the world threaten animal and public health everywhere. The good news is that animal health sciences are technologically better equipped than ever before for detecting new disease outbreaks almost in real time. The bad news is that despite this, there is a daunting gap in converting these advances into effective actions and policies, particularly in developing countries. What can be done to remedy this lack of cohesion? Some problems and possible solutions were recently discussed at a conference held in Hinxton, United Kingdom.[*][2] Experts in animal health research and policy-makers from high- and low-income countries reviewed developments and challenges in the field, including vaccine design, the analysis of host responses to infection, and disease transmission from wild and domestic animals to humans. There is much to laud. New approaches underlie recent progress, including genome-based vaccine discovery for treating Anaplasma and post-genomic selection for vaccine response in chickens. We can also predict the size of outbreaks of emerging pathogens on the basis of their reproductive ratio. Even economic losses from livestock deaths may be prevented by a detailed understanding of the cyclical transmission of pathogens (such as African Trypanosoma ) at the livestock/wildlife interface. ![Figure][1] CREDIT: FRANS LEMMENS/GETTY IMAGES Nevertheless, the conference revealed a growing divide between knowledge and application. Many strategies to detect and control disease are adequate in industrialized countries but not transferable to developing countries, namely sub-Saharan Africa. These countries often lack trained personnel and infrastructure (such as labs with water and electricity) and thus have no basic diagnostic and surveillance capacity. This includes genome-based surveillance for avian influenza, which is encroaching on the industrialized and developing world. Control strategies cannot be transferred because of insufficient funds to compensate farmers for culled stock. These deficiencies have resulted in the emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases in the developing world. Could this frustrating gap be bridged through improved public engagement? As discussed at Hinxton, programs such as the National Centre of Competence in Research North-South, which brings together research institutions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, indicate that public participation is key for effective interplay among international scientists, local and national authorities, and populations confronted with animal diseases. This program, among others, has shown that by connecting these entities, long-term North-South and South-South partnerships can surpass results achieved by any institution alone. Scientists can also be effective advocates for private and public investment in the control of disease transmission [take the scientists who motivated a private donor to invest in the control of sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) in Uganda]. But animal health researchers should also consider new ways of knowledge-brokering to promote evidence-based policy-making. The Regional East African Community Health Policy Initiative of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania is one example of how scientists and policy-makers can establish priorities for research and interventions through a cyclical process of negotiation. Moreover, periodic communication of research findings by scientists to local communities leads to a more integrated research process, assuring its validity and social relevance in a given context. Just such a public engagement approach led the Chad government to propose a new policy for providing social services to nomadic pastoralist populations, including education, health, animal health, food security, and water. Although there is no doubt that progress in animal health research must continue, it must also respond to societal needs and lead to solutions that can be delivered quickly. When science engages more with society, neither time nor resources are sacrificed. We can't afford to lose either. [1]: pending:yes [2]: #fn-1

Keynote Address: The Challenge of Thalassemia for the Developing Countries

The thalassemias occur at some of their highest frequencies in the developing countries, particularly those of Asia. In many countries, facilities for the control of these conditions are extremely limited. Although a great deal can be done to help the situation by developing further North-South and South-South partnerships for disseminating better practice, the major problem for the future lies in the unwillingness of governments and international health agencies to accept that the thalassemias present a health burden comparable to that of other major diseases in the developing countries. However, preliminary analyses suggest that, at least in the case of Asia, this is not true. Further work of this nature, together with more detailed frequency and economic data, are required to provide solid evidence for the health burden posed by thalassemia in the developing world. Unless this is done, the large populations of patients with thalassemia in these countries will continue to be neglected.

Reproductive health in Mexico and Latin America.

In 1974 Mexico responded to a population growth rate of 3.4% by including family planning (FP) as a constitutional right and establishing a new population law and population program which sought to reduce fertility levels as well as maternal-child mortality. By 1994 Mexicos growth rate was reduced to 1.8 and maternal-child mortality had declined. Reproductive health (RH) was made a priority issue for the National Development Plan for 1995-2000 and applies a gender perspective to FP the needs of adolescents safe motherhood womens health sexually transmitted diseases male responsibility and infertility management. The quality and accessibility of FP programs were strengthened through an intensive program of training in logistics to improve contraceptive distribution and introduce methods such as no-scalpel vasectomy monthly injectables IUDs and subdermal implants. The mass media is being used to promote the concept of RH and specific initiatives target adolescents promote safe motherhood promote breast feeding provide screening for birth defects seek to improve access to and quality of prenatal care help diabetic women plan pregnancies and contraception create a network of laboratories for cervical and breast cancer screening provide information and services for peri- and postmenopausal women and continue RH research. The Latin American region is characterized by large variation in health status among countries limited epidemiological data early entry into reproductive life mortality due to HIV/AIDS and illegal abortion and low levels of contraceptive use among young people. A network of collaborating institutions has conducted 250 RH research projects during the past 20 years and a South-South Partnership has been formed to implement the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.

The role of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)

The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1983 and officially launched by the former Secretary General of the United Nations in 1985. TWAS has united the most eminent scientists from the South. It currently has 350 members from 55 developing countries, including the 9 living Nobel Laureates of Third World origin. The main mission of TWAS is to promote scientific excellence for sustainable development in the South. In 1988, TWAS facilitated the establishment of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (TWNSO), a non-governmental alliance of over 133 scientific organizations, including 27 Ministries of Science and Technology and Higher Education, 42 Research Councils and 36 Academies from 70 Third World countries. TWNSO's mission is to assist in building political and scientific leadership for science- based economic development in the South and in promoting broad-based South-South and South-North partnerships in areas of science and technology critical to sustainable development. TWAS and TWNSO have established a number of programmes that can benefit scientists in developing countries conducting ground-based experiments for the utilization of global satellite data. These programmes include the awarding of research grants to promising space scientists to enable them to purchase equipment and spare parts needed for their experimental work, and the awarding of fellowships to space scientists in the South for research and training in other space research institutions in the South. In addition, TWNSO has recently launched a major South-South collaboration programme which will provide competitive research grants to joint research projects (including those related to the utilization of global satellite data) involving 2–3 competent institutions from different countries in the South.