Partnerships for now?

• Main Author: Iruka N. Okeke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Edinburgh Library 2018-05-01
• Series: Medicine Anthropology Theory
• Subjects: partnership; collaboration; africa; sustainability; capacity building
• Online Access: http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/4868

Scientific alliances are typically referred to as ‘collaborations’ but in recent times, those with global health or other development goals are increasingly referred to as ‘partnerships’. I observe that one of the features common to this type of partnership is temporality: flagship programs are frequently initiated but less commonly sustained. Thus the pressure that short-term transnational projects place on African health and educational systems that implement them is sometimes hard to justify. I suggest that one reason for the short life spans of partnerships is inadequate attention to the need to build ‘hard’ and leadership capacities: infrastructure, managerial expertise, administrative capabilities, and the capacity to improvise at African partner institutions.