Towards post-colonial capacity-building methodologies – some remarks on the experiences of health researchers from Mozambique and Angola

Abstract

This paper analyzes capacity building in practice, addressing the expectations, imaginaries and experiences of health researchers from Mozambique and Angola. The empirical data stems from the Erasmus+ funded project “University Development and Innovation – Africa (UDI-A)”, a consortium established between European and African institutions to promote the mobility and empowerment of African academics, the establishment of North/South research partnerships and the strengthening of African institutions. Through qualitative research methods – semi-structured interviews and a focus group with African participants, and participant observation – this article analyzes the experiences of African academics working in the health field, their perceptions of capacity building and aspirations during their stay in Portugal in 2018. By addressing some of their concerns and achievements, this paper reflects on the performativity of capacity building methodologies, exploring a wide range of issues that emerge within the framework of North/South partnerships, inquiring whether it would be possible to decolonize capacity-building methodologies.

International field education: A case study of developing an anti-colonial group study program in Mexico

“…In conducting this research, we strove to follow postcolonial research practices in all phases of the study. In terms of equity and fairness in research partnerships (Carvalho et al, 2019), Mexican and Canadian academics co-developed the study and we relied on local epistemologies and practices (Freire, 1970) to identify and articulate local desires and recommendations for IFE.…”

Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review

“…Global health and evaluation programs compound such asymmetries in knowledge production, generation, and mobilisation by generally taking place in English and other colonial languages, particularly of Europe. International journals disproportionately publish scholarship in English and other colonial languages [57,58] and ostracize publications in local or predatory journals, which many local researchers resort to because of the exclusive and exclusionary PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH practices of high-impact journalsc [1,58]. Global health evaluation professionals in highincome countries lead, manage, and attend academic and organisational centres that are headquartered in high-income countries.…”

“…Sustainable exchange of capacity. The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 17) embed capacity building through North-South and South-South cooperation as a strategic priority for research partnerships in science and technology to foster innovation [23,57]. Yet such cooperative exchange mostly remains performative and lopsided, with North-South paradigmatic, academic, and experiential rifts fuelled by historical and structural cooption of knowledge generation, production, and mobilisation and with conflation of research partnerships and capacity building efforts [55,57].…”

“…The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 17) embed capacity building through North-South and South-South cooperation as a strategic priority for research partnerships in science and technology to foster innovation [23,57]. Yet such cooperative exchange mostly remains performative and lopsided, with North-South paradigmatic, academic, and experiential rifts fuelled by historical and structural cooption of knowledge generation, production, and mobilisation and with conflation of research partnerships and capacity building efforts [55,57]. Advocates of the decolonisation of global health evaluation movement such as Carvalho (2019) [57] and Hudib (2016) [61] recommend the following as potential pathways toward establishing sustainable capacity exchange: adopting cross-cultural humility [57]; suspending epistemological authority [61]; and developing symmetric methodologies [61], fair access to technologies and resources [61], and systems to exchange (as opposed to build) capacity [61].…”

Soft skills in developing economies: An African view on the hidden linkage between indigenous knowledge and business perspectives

“…In the health sector, professionals are often asked to combine their training in specialist skills with "pedagogical dimensions" and to align capacity building procedures with learning about recognizing the situational (Carvalho et al, 2019). Pedagogy is certainly needed to both prepare individuals for a service in healthcare facilities and to make this service attractive.…”