Global Development Network Inc

EMPOWER RESEARCHERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, STRENGTHEN RESEARCH SKILLS & MOBILIZE RESEARCH

RESEARCH CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM - ("RCBP"). THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS QUALITY RESEARCH IN MANY COUNTRIES, INVOLVING LOCAL RESEARCH TEAMS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD. THE MULTI-COUNTRY STUDIES ALLOW FOR BOTH COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE ACROSS REGIONS AND COUNTRIES. GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD COMPETITION PREVIOUSLY WAS A STANDALONE ACTIVITY AND HAS NOW BEEN ALLOCATED UNDER RCBP FROM THIS FINANCIAL PERIOD. GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AWARDS COMPETITION -JAPAN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND AWARDTHE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AWARDS COMPETITION IS AN AWARD SCHEME LAUNCHED BY GDN WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE, GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN, AND ADMINISTERED THROUGH THE PHRD TRUST FUND AT THE WORLD BANK. IT INCLUDES THREE AWARD CATEGORIES: THE JAPANESE AWARD ON OUTSTANDING RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT (ORD), THE JAPANESE AWARD FOR MOST INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (MIDP), AND THE JAPAN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND AWARD (JSDF). THIS MAKES FOR A GREAT VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES IN THE COMPETITION, MAKING IT GDN'S ONLY PROGRAM TO INVOLVE BOTH RESEARCHERS AND DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS. THE AWARDS COMPETITION RECOGNIZES EXCELLENCE IN POLICY-ORIENTED RESEARCH, IDENTIFIES TALENTS, SUPPORTS THE CAREER ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCHERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, AND FUNDS INNOVATIVE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED BY NGOS AND BENEFITING MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2000, GDN HAS AWARDED ROUGHLY US$ 4 MILLION IN RESEARCH AND PROJECT GRANTS TO FINALISTS AND WINNERS. NEARLY 8,800 RESEARCHERS AND DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS FROM LOW-INCOME OR MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE COMPETITION AND MORE THAN 200 AWARDS HAVE BEEN CONFERRED TILL DATE.CURRENTLY, THE PROGRAM IS FUNDED THROUGH 2 GRANTS, EACH GRANT FUNDING 3 CONSECUTIVE EDITIONS OF THE AWARDS. UP TO 3 MIDP AND ORD AWARDS ARE GIVEN OUT PER CATEGORY IN EACH EDITION, AND FINALISTS FROM THE MIDP AWARD COMPETE FOR THE JSDF AWARD AFTER ONE YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION. ACCORDINGLY, EACH EDITION CARRIES 7 AWARDS, IMPLEMENTED AS RESEARCH GRANTS OVER A PERIOD OF MINIMUM 3 YEARS AFTER THE COMPETITION.5 GRANTS ARE CURRENTLY OPEN: THE JSDF AWARD FROM THE 2017 EDITION (DELAYED DUE TO COVID-19 IMPACTS); THE 2ND PRIZE IN THE ORD CATEGORY FROM THE 2019 EDITION (DELAYED DUE TO COVID-19 IMPACTS); ALL THREE PRIZES FROM THE ORD CATEGORY OF THE 2020 EDITION.IN AGREEMENT WITH THE WORLD BANK, THE 2021 EDITION WILL FEATURE THE A NEW EDITION OF THE ORD AND 3 PARALLEL EDITIONS OF THE MIDP AWARD. THIS EXCEPTION EDITION WILL THEREFORE SEE UP TO 12 AWARDEES, AND MIDP AWARDEES WILL THEN COMPETE AFTER 12 MONTHS OF IMPLEMENTATION FOR 3 JSDF AWARDS. FINALLY, A RESTRUCTURING OF THE EXISTING GRANT HAS ENABLED GDN TO DEVELOP AN ONLINE PLATFORM TO MAP AND CONNECT ALL PREVIOUS GRANTEES OF THE COMPETITION AND A 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, TO BE HELD DURING THE GDN CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER 2021.- DOING RESEARCH: ASSESSING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORK (GDN) LAUNCHED AN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM TO SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE CHALLENGES OF DOING QUALITY SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. INFORMED BY A TWO-YEAR PILOT PHASE, THIS PROGRAM PARTNERED WITH NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS FROM BOLIVIA, INDONESIA, MYANMAR AND NIGERIA TO IMPLEMENT THE DOING RESEARCH ASSESSMENTS (DRA): A METHOD FOR ANALYZING THE STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, CHALLENGES AND BOTTLENECKS THAT AFFECT QUALITY AND POLICY-RELEVANT SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH. EXCEPT FOR MYANMAR, WHICH WAS FUNDED BY IDRC, ALL GRANTS IN THE THREE COUNTRIES WERE FUNDED BY GDN. CURRENTLY (THE PERIOD 2020-2021), THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN VENEZUELA (IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IDRC) AS A MINI VERSION OF DRA AND PRELIMINARY EFFORT TO MAKE SENSE OF THE STATE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. THE PROGRAM IS ALSO CONTINUED BEING IMPLEMENTED IN EL SALVADOR UNDER GDN FUNDING. AGAIN IN 2021, THE RESULTS OF THE DOING RESEARCH ASSESSMENTS IN BOLIVIA, INDONESIA, MYANMAR AND NIGERIA HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED TO BE INCLUDED AS A SPECIAL ISSUE PEER-REVIEW JOURNAL PUBLICATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL (ISSJ). EFFORTS TO CONTINUE EXPANDING THE PROGRAM ARE UNDERWAY, INITIAL TALKS HAVE STARTED IN ZIMBABWE WHERE THE UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE, ZIMBABWE EVIDENCE INFORMED POLICY NETWORK (ZEIPNET), AND WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY IN AFRICA (WUA) HAVE AGREED TO PARTNER IN BECOMING THE NATIONAL FOCAL POINT FOR DRA IN ZIMBABWE. GENERALLY, THE DR PROGRAM REPRESENTS AN INNOVATIVE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT AND ACT ON THE STATUS AND FUTURE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, AND GDN WILL LEAD THE AGGREGATION, BENCHMARKING AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE THAT EMERGES FROM THE ASSESSMENT, SUPPORTING IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS TO USE FINDINGS TO GUIDE ACTION ON RESEARCH SYSTEM STRENGTHENING.