Moving to research partnerships in developing countries.

What should be the principles behind investment in research in developing countries? Does current practice overemphasise the results of research and ignore issues like ownership, sustainability, and development of national research capacity? We believe that the research model supported by many funding agencies remains semicolonial in nature. Foreign domination in setting research priorities and project management may have negative consequences which outweigh the apparent benefits of the research findings. National academic leaders and institutions need to be involved if research is to be translated into practice. The deterioration in academic infrastructure in many developing countries needs to be reversed as part of any research investment. A truly cooperative research partnership, which should be monitored by funding agencies, rests on four broad principles: x Mutual trust and shared decision making x National ownership x Emphasis on getting research findings into policy and practice x Development of national research capacity.