Science Granting Councils Initiative in Africa - NEW Science Granting Councils Initiative in Africa Science Granting Councils Initiative in Africa Den kanadensiska regeringens statliga bolag för forskningsbistånd, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) har sedan 2015 finansierat ett program för att stödja forskningsråd i Afrika. Programmet, Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub Saharan Africa, SGCI, omfattar för närvarande stöd till forskningsråd i 15 länder, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Etiopien, Elfenbenskusten, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe och Botswana. Programmet finansieras även av Storbrittaniens biståndsdepartement, Department for International Development (DFID) och Sydafrikanska forskningsrådet, National Research Foundation (NRF). 

Sida och IDRC har diskuterat samfinansiering av ett programförslag i syfte att ingå ett femårigt partnerskap av programmet för att fortsätta stärka utvalda forskningsråd i Afrika för att i sin tur stödja forskning och evidensbaserade policies som förväntas bidra till ekonomisk och social utveckling i de aktuella länderna i Afrika.   

Det föreslagna programmet har följande förväntade reslultat:

a) fördjupad kapacitet hos forskningsråden att leda forskning;
b) fördjupad kapacitet hos forskningsåden att designa och följa upp forskningsprogram och att forumulera och implementera policies baserat på vetenskap, teknologi och innovation;
c) hantera forskningsutlysningar inom områden som är relevanta för effekter på utveckling såväl som för den privata sektorn;
d) bygga nätverk mellan forskningsåden och med andra aktörer inom forskningssystem. International Development Research Centre (IDRC)  a Canadian Federal Crown Corporation has been financing a program to support research councils in Africa since 2015. The Programme, Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI), currently involves 15 countries, namely Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Côte d'ivoire, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The programme is also funded from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and South Africa's National Research Foundation (NRF).

Sida and IDRC has proposed a 5 year partnership which aims to continue strengthening the capacities of these councils in order to support research and evidencebased policies that will contribute to economic and social develompent. 

The new partnership involving Sida and IDRC will support the Initiative to continue working with the 15 Councils to achieve four primary objectives:

- deepened Councils’ ability to manage research
- deepened Councils’ capacity to design/monitor research programs and to formulate/implement policies based on the use of robust Science, Technology & innovation indicators (STI)
- manage research competitions on areas of interest for development impact as well as to the private sector;
- build networks among Councils and with other science system actors Canadas International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has a 8,5year partnership with Sida to deepen and sustain the Science Granting Councils Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI). The Initiative, targets Science Granting Councils which are public or quasipublic organisations that grant state funding for science, including the social sciences and humanities. In this role, they sit in an intermediary space between the state and the research community defining and executing a significant part of the states science policy. The SGCI is a multi-donor Initiative funded by United Kingdoms Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Canadas International Development Research Centre (IDRC), South Africas National Research Foundation (NRF-SA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), and the German Research Foundation (DFG). Since its inception in 2015, the SGCI has been strengthening the capacities of Science Granting Councils (SGCs) in sub-Saharan Africa countries to support research, innovation, and evidence-based policies that contribute to economic and social development. The initial funding for five years came from the UKs Department for International Development (DFID), South Africas National Research Foundation (NRF) and IDRC, with IDRC and NRF being coresponsible for implementation of the program. The German Research Foundation (DFG) joined in December 2019 as an Associate Funder for three years. Norad joined SGCI during the last part of 2021 for a 4 year period. The ongoing SGCI phase two (SGCI-2) is supported under new partnerships with FCDO, IDRC, Norad, Sida, NRF, and DFG. These partnerships are collectively strengthening the capacities of Science Granting Councils (or related agencies) from 17 countries (Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Côte dIvoire, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) in 6 thematic areas/ objectives: Theme 1  Strengthening the ability of Science Granting Councils in research management. (AAU/ SARIMA). Theme 2  Strengthening the Capacity of Science Granting Councils to use of data and evidence in policy and decision making. (University of Johannesburg, UJ). Theme 3  Supporting the ability of Science Granting Councils to fund research and innovation. (African Centre for Technology Studies, ACTS). Theme 4  Supporting strategic communications and knowledge uptake. (CABI SciDev). Theme 5  Strengthening the Capacities of Science Granting Councils in gender equality and inclusivity. (Human Sciences Research Council, HSRC). Theme 6 - Supporting the Science Granting Councils to develop frameworks and enabling structures for public private sector partnerships in research and innovation. (Scinnovent Centre, SC) The thematic areas were initially selected to respond to the key challenges facing the Councils identified through a scoping study (2014) and subsequent political economy analyses, various consultative meetings with the Councils, and case studies. These challenges included limited research management capacities lack of sustained funding base poor application of knowledge for economic and social use poor coordination with other agencies and limited capacities to use evidence for policy and decision making.