Report / Case study

Assessment of the research results produced under the SIDA/SAREC supported programme: Support to African applied social science research on the HIV/AIDS pandemic

Abstract

The programme whose results are assessed in this report consisted of 4 parts run by different organizations: 1) A Political Economy of Patient Welfare and Rights in Relation to HIV/AIDS (CODESRIA); 2) The HIV/AIDS Challenge in Africa: The Socio-Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS and Responses (OSSREA); 3) Reversing the HIV/AIDS Pandemic among Youth through Participatory Action Research in Kenya and Uganda (SOMA-NET); and 4) The Demographic, Social and Economic Determinants and Consequences of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Africa (UAPS). This assessment consists of a peer review (by a number of externally commissoned reviewers) of research reports produced from the programme, and a conference evaluation. Its aim was to judge whether each part achieved its 3 main objectives: 1) to enhance capacity for HIV and AIDS research among African scholars; 2) to produce new research findings; and 3) to produce applied results that could feed into policy and practice. It is concluded that in essence the programme achieved the first two aims but not the third. Recommendations are made on how a follow-up programme could produce more applicable results and fill in gaps that have not been studied thrououghly so far