Projects

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Cycle  1

Pilot Research Projects

The SRP is about strengthening capacity of DPOs and disabled people on how to relate with and work with researchers.  More so, it is also about promoting understanding, cooperation and mutual trust between researchers and disabled people. Recognizing the value of community-based research as well as academic research, SAFOD is committed to promoting the spirit of partnership between disabled people, academic institutions and other communities of interest.  The final intention of the SRP is the use of knowledge generated to influence policy and practice that affects the lives of disabled people in SAFOD member countries.

In fact, use and ownership of disability research to influence policy   has been challenging for disabled people in SAFOD member countries. Traditional interventions to improve research use and ownership by DPOs have been marginally effective. In the SRP Planning and Conceptualization Phase, the following five Pilot Research Projects were identified for implementation during the Inception Phase:

• Policy Audit ( in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland);

• Research Evidence on HIV / AIDS and Reproductive Health ( in Malawi and Namibia);

• Promoting Education and Training of Disabled People (in Lesotho and South Africa);

• DPO Needs Assessment (in Lesotho);

• Disability Literature Review (in all SAFOD member countries).

However, the Inception Phase which was scheduled to end on 31 March 2008 was extended for a further six weeks, with the approval of DFID, to allow for the completion of outstanding work, including the pilot research projects which were expected to begin around December 2007.  Given the Christmas period, during which SAFOD staff and most researchers would be away on holiday, it was agreed to request DFID for a no-cost extension.  This had the effect of delaying the finalization of Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the Research Projects and the call for proposals and subsequent selection of tenders for the research work. 

The Technical Advisory Board (TAB) meeting on 16 - 19 March, 2008, revised the ToRs, a development which further delayed the signing of contracts with winning tenders and the actual start of the research projects.  Thus, most of the work on the pilot research projects actually started towards the end of the Inception Phase and will end around mid August, 2008. The aim of  the,  five  pilot  projects that were commissioned  during the  SRP Inception Phase is   to test the feasibility  and provide the  groundwork  for increasing the capacity of  SAFOD/DPOs  to  undertake, use and own research.   

By the end of June, 2008, some of the researchers had already completed their fieldwork and were in the process of organising feedback meetings with SAFOD. The five pilot research projects are already providing opportunities for disabled people and researchers with new research experiences that will benefit both research institutions and the previously marginalised populations that they serve.

The pilot projects are being implemented through consultancies using diverse partnerships. As the aim of the SRP is to have research that has impact, each research team undertaking these pilots was tasked to establish and develop collaboration with local DPOs, national and regional authorities and international organisations.  This may be an ambitious aim but we hope this will help the SRP achieve not only relevance of results to needs of  disabled people and wide participation of key stakeholders but also ensure  that research results influence  decisions of national policy makers.

By outsourcing the pilot projects to researchers and research institutions the SRP is helping   stimulate demand for DPO-driven research more effectively. This  will  also help  strengthen  links  between SAFOD/DPOs and  national, regional and international research institutions The pilot projects being undertaken in the selected  countries are  helping local   DPOs' aim  to  increase their capacity  to  do research  themselves.