Devex: Opinion: What you need to know about research partnerships for sustainable development
Selamawit Hirpa, research fellow at the University of Addis Ababa’s School of Public Health; Rob Ralston, research fellow in the global health policy unit at the University of Edinburgh; and Priscilla Tiigah, policy and research adviser on Cancer Research U.K.’s international cancer prevention program

“…[T]here is a need to address and generate more research to understand [the] public health threat [of tobacco]. The United Kingdom’s government-funded Global Challenges Research Fund … aims to address the Sustainable Development Goals through research collaborations between the U.K. and the global south. This includes the University of Edinburgh-led [Tobacco Control Capacity Programme (TCCP)], … helping to build the evidence base to support policy change in tobacco control. It aims to maximize impact through capacity-building and equitable partnerships. … Programs that aim to build sustainable research capacity should learn from the global north and south and offer mechanisms to apply learning in different contexts. … Programs such as TCCP are invaluable for academics to help generate enthusiasm and commitment to pursue research that can play a role in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. But future initiatives must be well-resourced, genuinely collaborative, and inclusive to achieve the long-term impact they set out to achieve” (8/6).