Gavin Cochrane

Evaluating a complex research capacity-buildingintervention: reflections on an evaluation of the AfricanInstitutions Initiative

There is increasing policy demand for real-time evaluations of research and capacity-building programmes reflecting a recognition of the management, governance and impact gains that can result. However, the evidence base on how to successfully implement real-time evaluations of complex interventions in international development efforts is scarce. There is therefore a need for reflective work that considers methodologies in context. This article shares learning from the experience of conducting a participatory, real-time, ‘theory driven’ evaluation of the African Institutions Initiative, a Wellcome Trust-funded programme that aimed to build sustainable health research capacity in Africa at institutional and network levels, across seven research consortia. We reflect on the key challenges experienced and ways of managing them, highlight opportunities and critical success factors associated with this evaluation approach, compared with alternative evaluation approaches.

Innovative Procurement for Health and Industrial Development

Part II of this book has demonstrated that building synergies between health systems and industrial development is a complex process of reshaping the politics and political economy of the two systems. A key tool for building and sustaining health-industry relationships, as Smita Srinivas observes above and as some Part I chapters also emphasized, is procurement. Yet procurement remains under-researched and over-simplified as a technical, linear, ordering and delivery process (see Chapter 8), rather than an exercise in deepening and strengthening the domestic economy through market and non-market relationships building.

Mapping the global mental health research funding system

This study maps the global funding of mental health research between 2009 and 2014. It builds from the bottom up a picture of who the major funders are, what kinds of research they support and how their strategies relate to one another. It uses the funding acknowledgements on journal papers as a starting point for this. The study also looks to the future, considering some of the areas of focus, challenges and opportunities which may shape the field in the coming few years.

Review of Six DFID-funded Growth Research Programmes: Main report

To foster economic research on growth in poor and developing countries the Department for International Development in the UK has provided funding to several organisations focused on economic growth research. Of interest for this study were six individual programmes. The aim of this review was to compare the six programmes over time, against each other, and against relevant benchmarks to capture their performance to date.

A global map of mental health research funding

Introduction Mental illness has a major impact on individuals, healthcare systems and society. Research is needed to improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of many mental health conditions and to develop effective treatments. However, the field of mental health research is broad and fragmented. It covers a diversity of health conditions and contains a large and varied population of researchers and funding organisations. These characteristics are a significant challenge to coordinating and conducting research. There has never been, to the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive view of the entire mental health research funding ‘ecosystem’ at a global scale. This study provides a snapshot of the mental health research funding ecosystem, showing who the major funders are, what kinds of research they support and how their strategies relate to one another.

Mapping UK mental health research funding and its contribution to global funding: A refined analysis for the UK context

A refined analysis for the UK context

058: EVALUATING A COMPLEX CAPACITY-BUILDING INTERVENTION IN AN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT: REFLECTING ON THE AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS INITIATIVE EVALUATION

Background In the past decade, global health funders, non-government organisations and policymakers have increased their efforts to support health research capacity in developing low and middle income countries (LMICs). These efforts are aimed at securing the provision of—and eventually access to—high-quality health services. The Wellcome Trusts African Institutions Initiative (AII), launched in 2009 aimed to broaden the research base for scientific endeavour in under-resourced environments; to support areas of science with the potential to contribute to health benefits for people and livestock; and to support international networks and partnerships focused on health problems of resource-poor countries. Objectives We present findings from an independent real-time evaluation of the first four years of the Initiative, from 2009–2013. The evaluation project aims to address the gaps in our understanding of effective capacity building initiatives and to help inform the next phase of the Initiative. Methods Evaluation in real time – during a programmes life as opposed to at the end of it – is particularly suitable for the kinds of complex interventions and uncertain contexts reflected in this Initiative. With real-time evaluation, on-going learning can be optimised to inform programme implementation. This evaluation adopted an approach which mirrored the participatory, African-led ethos of the overall Initiative. It worked with the funding recipients to evaluate them against their own articulated and documented aims and objectives. Result The AII was not designed to deliver “quick wins”. Rather it plans to lay the foundations for increased research capacity and the emergence of locally relevant health research agendas over time, which is reflected in its direct engagement with African universities and research institutes to develop Africa-led research programmes. This being said, programme-wide achievements during the first phase of funding are evident.The AII has successfully supported active networks amongst African institutions and between African and Northern partners. Networks present a cost-effective approach to supporting many institutions with limited resources. A fundamental component of the Initiatives intervention logic is the notion that collaborative networks, through a consortium-based model, can maximise potential impacts of investments in capacity-building activities. Conclusion Overall, the objectives of the AII represent an ambitious departure from traditional modes of strengthening research capacity in LMICs. While the Initiative is still at an early phase, evidence gathered in this evaluation show that consortia are contributing in multiple ways to developing sustainable research capacity. The unique features of the Initiative—an African-led, networked approach—have facilitated many of these achievements. The diversity of networking models for capacity building developed by consortia present a range of models with different strengths and weaknesses, enabling funders to reflect on future models.