By Kate Morioka, Research Project Manager. March 15, 2011. Madang, PNG
Who we partner with and how we work with our partners are important to a successful project. And ActionAid’s research project is no exception. My initial visit to Papua New Guinea in March involved meeting with our local research partner, the Bismarck Ramu Group (BRG).
The BRG broke away from the UNDP funded Integrated Conservation and Development (ICAD) programme in 1999, establishing itself as a self-reliant community development organisation owned and facilitated by and for the local people. The ICAD Lak Project was deemed by the UNDP as a failure because its objective of creating a biodiversity conservation areas was not achieved and logging companies ‘bought out’ the villagers and their royalties and incentives were far too generous than what the ICAD could offer.
Today, the BRG has a strong force of full time and part time coordinators who go on ‘patrols’ to the villages; and they enter the villages empty-handed, to avoid creating expectations. This approach, referred to as the non-cargo approach, focuses on self-help, reducing dependence on economic-incentives to achieve development and conservation outcomes. Less than a decade since it split from the ICAD, the BRG had been successful in protecting 80,000 and 18,000 hectares of conservation land.
Strongly focused on the process of self-help, the BRG takes a firm stance on who it partners with and who it obtains funds from. They are not afraid to turn away donors – this is to make sure that the organisation stays grounded and true to the people it works with, rather than influenced by outside interests.
For ActionAid, with no prior experience, knowledge or presence in PNG, establishing honest, genuine and transparent relationships with local organisations, and trusting their processes is not only important but an absolute must. This is particularly so for AA’s research on climate change and women – we are the students coming from the outside and we are here to learn from the real experts (the local people). Immediately a rush of questions run through my head: How can our research also benefit the BRG? What can ActionAid offer? How can the information collected for the research be used in a way that is appropriate and useful for the BRG? What are the long term partnership opportunities for AA and the BRG?
Whilst it is easy to ‘conduct research’ with clear time, budgetary and organisational parameters, we have to also think how our potential research partners work, their model of engaging with the community and how they can benefit from the partnership. We also need to critically reflect on our role as outsiders, what beliefs and assumptions we bring, and our expectations. Will the relationship between AA and the partner organisation be equal and fair? Will both parties be aware of their responsibilities and accountability to each other? Will the partnership be mutually beneficial?
All too often do researchers come into a community with their strict agendas then leave a short time later, with the local people feeling as though they may never see or hear from the researchers again. That vey research may be critical in informing government or organisational decisions (or its remnants may remain as dust-collecting reports in bookshelves) but the information never returns to the people in a way that can be used to help them move forward. Then another one year down the track, another researcher arrives to the community and then leaves again.
I don’t want to be that researcher. And I don’t want to be doing research that will not benefit the very people who share their knowledge and stories with me. I have so many more questions running through my head, which makes me think about how we do our research. Tomorrow I meet with Rosa for the second time, and we will answer some of these questions together.
