Join UKCDR and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) on 22 April 2024 for our side event at the OECD Science and Technology Policy Ministerial (OECD CSTP). This event will be hosted at the OECD Headquarters located at 2, Rue André-Pascal 75016 Paris, France.
The side event is a gathering of international public funders of research for development and a range of wider stakeholders. These include representatives from government departments, international bodies, international research agencies, intergovernmental organisations, and NGOs.
Research for development has the potential to advance the implementation and realisation of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda. It can inform public policies and development trajectories; encourage and harness the power of science, technology, and innovation to support accelerated and sustainable transitions; and increase the impact and coherence of aid spending.
Our side event aims to highlight research as a force for development. Bringing key actors together around a collective agenda, we will host two sessions. Each will address a critical area for ensuring the effectiveness of research for development:
- Session 1: Promoting principle and good practices in funding research for development: Effective research funding and equitable partnerships approaches
- Session 2: Informed decision-making and donor coordination: the challenge of production and availability of data on research and research funding
We know that research funding is vital to improving development outcomes, however we must also acknowledge some of the tensions in research for development. Session one will address the complexities surrounding ‘sponsor logic’ and aid dependency. Discussion will explore some of the contradictory implications of donor funding and shed light on how we can meaningfully operationalize best practices and principles. Attendees will actively reflect on the key principles that need to be agreed, based on their knowledge and experience.
Join us for a presentation, panel discussion, and roundtable discussion.
Presentation
- Etienne Charrière, Agence Française de Développement (AFD, France)
Panel discussion
- Mame-Penda Ba, Laboratoire d’Analyse des Sociétés et Pouvoirs/Afrique-Diasporas et Global Africa (LASPAD, Senegal)
- Thomas Melonio, Agence Française de Développement (AFD, France)
- Yaya Sangare, Fonds pour la Science, la Technologie et l’Innovation (FONSTI, Côte d’Ivoire)
- Frances Wood, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI, UK)
Session two will focus on the role of data in development, with a focus on global funding flows. The session will explore how limited data availability impedes donor coordination and prevents informed decision-making. We will reflect on some initiatives attempting to provide a picture of funding flows as well as research assessments and discuss the data and mechanisms needed to maximise the coherence of research funding.
As above, join us for a presentation, panel discussion, and roundtable discussion.
Presentation
- Adrian Bucher, UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR)
Panel discussion
Moderated by Julia Kemp, Wellcome Trust (UK)
- Charlotte Watts, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO, UK)
- Jean-Louis Arcand, Global Development Network (GDN)
- Nokuthula P. Mchunu, National Research Foundation (NRF, South Africa)
- Ida Mc Donnell, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, France)
How to join us
If you would like to join us for this event, please email Sonja McGurk, UKCDR Head of Operations, at s.mcgurk@ukcdr.org.uk. Please contact us by 10 April 2024.
Please note that UKCDR will not be able to contribute to travel costs.
Additional information: There will be a multistakeholder event held on 23 April, 2024. To register, fill out the form before 12 April.
Image credit: AFD