The Association of African Universities, with some of Africa’s major research and higher education (HE) constituencies, including , the African Research Universities Alliance, the Inter-University Council for Eastern Africa, the Association of West African Universities, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, and the African Academy of Sciences, are embarking on an initiative to co-create a Charter framework for advancing a transformative mode of academic research collaborations with Africa that will serve to advance and uphold the continent’s contribution to the global production of knowledge.
A first consultative meeting on 26 January 2023 in Accra, Ghana, which included the the International Network for Higher Education in Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal and the African Union Commission, designated a steering group to take forward the initiative.
Drawing on African intellectual thought, analyses of extant global scientific- and equitable partnerships efforts, and dialogue with key HE and research actors in Europe, North America and others across the globe the Charter will:
- articulate basic Principles on how research collaborations need to be configured to redress the multi-layered power imbalances in global-Africa knowledge dynamics;
- set out Goals and Guiding frameworks for institutional and HE-sector policy change to embed such a transformative collaboration mode. An initial framework and declaration will be launched on 22 June 2023 in Accra, Ghana.
The initiative is facilitated by the Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC), University of Bristol, in partnership with the University of South Africa Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair and the University of Cape Town Institute for Humanities in Africa.