This good practice document gives guidance on how capacity strengthening initiatives can generate the maximum possible benefit. ESSENCE suggests seven principles, accompanied by examples, that can be used as tools for further discussion.
The seven principles are:
- Network, collaborate, communicate and share experience
- Understand the local context and accurately evaluate existing research capacity
- Ensure local ownership and secure active support
- Build in monitoring, evaluation and learning from the start
- Establish robust research governance and support structures, and promote effective leadership
- Embed strong support, supervision and mentorship structures
- Think long-term, be flexible and plan for continuity