Paper short abstract:

In this paper we discuss the thinking and agentic action undertaken by Christian Aid, an international NGO to promote knowledge justice and deepen an ethic of decoloniality in its practice of research partnerships.

Paper long abstract:

We view partnerships as a practice which is embedded in the 'colonial epistemic structure'. The coloniality embedded in this structure leads to epistemic injustices and inequity in partnerships and knowledge production (Walker and Martinez- Vargas, 2019). This paper discusses the thinking and agentic actions undertaken by Christian Aid, an international NGO to shift power in research and deepen an ethic of decoloniality in its practice of research partnerships. Some of the agentic actions undertaken by Christian Aid include i)committing to a vision of knowledge justice, ii) developing principles for fair and equitable global research partnerships. iii)developing a set of resources targeted at difference audiences to put principles for fair and equitable research partnerships into practice, iv) developing a research ethics toolkit which provides practitioners with practical guidance on how to do research and evaluation ethically, vi)) decentering research in a North-South multi country partnership, vii) developing a value-based partnership policy, viii) creating spaces to engage with researchers in the Global South who are committed to the decolonial praxis. We reflect on the learnings from these agentic actions for re-imagining research partnerships and promoting knowledge justice. This paper is therefore a way to share our learning and resources on partnerships. Hence, we contribute to the larger discourse on developing equitable partnerships from a reflexive praxis and practice orientation.