Welcome to the Irish-African Partnership

Welcome to the Irish-African Partnership for Research Capacity Building (IAP for short). This is a three year pilot project (2008-2010) to bring together all nine universities on the island of Ireland and universities in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda in a unique, high-level partnership to develop a coordinated approach to research capacity building in order to make an effective contribution to the reduction of poverty.  The IAP was developed under the auspices of Universities Ireland, which also provides some match funding.

University College Cork president, Dr Michael Murphy, and Eduardo Mondlane University vice-rector, Professor Orlando Quilambo, with participants at the third IAP workshop in Maputo, Mozambique, May 2009

The IAP is largely funded by the Irish Government’s development cooperation programme, Irish Aid.

The IAP’s work is based around five workshops in Dublin, Entebbe, Maputo, Zomba and Belfast. The most recent workshop took place in Maputo, Mozambique on 11-14 May 2009.

Dr Eimear Barrett

 

Other key elements are a ‘foresight’ exercise to identify the main health and education priorities in Africa over the next 10 years; and an unprecedented stakeholder consultation to assess existing research capacity and constraints to future research capacity in the 13 participating universities.  A set of quantitative and qualitative metrics will also be developed.

Perhaps the most ambitious feature of the IAP is the proposed digital repository and research register. This aims to provide a prototype online platform for African and Irish researchers working together in future, and thus a highly distinctive showcase for African researchers to ‘show their wares’ to Ireland and the world.

 

Dr Mary Goretti Nakabugo

The Maputo Workshop

The third IAP workshop took place in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo, on 11-14 May 2009. The programme included sessions on development for poverty reduction; case studies from Mozambique in lessons from development research; research for development in universities; gender training; research capacity building in health and education; and a public seminar on ‘Development in Africa in the 21st century: Challenges and Opportunities’, with distinguished speakers from Mozambique, South Africa and Ireland.

 Participants at the Maputo workshop