Working together: our new Principles of Partnership for humanitarian innovation and research

Collaboration and partnership, including with people affected by crisis, improves the quality, impact and uptake of research and innovation.

We have 10 years' experience of creating, convening and building partnerships in the humanitarian sector.

During the last decade we have learned a lot about what works from our own practice, from the experiences of those we fund, and from others in the humanitarian community.

But we wanted to get a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges faced by partnerships in our innovation and research programmes.

Launch of our Partnership Reviews - HIF and R2HC

Today we share the learnings from two external reviews carried out by Christian Aid into our Humanitarian Innovation Fund and our Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises programme.

These reviews examine the experiences of teams funded within the two programmes and puts their experiences in the context of the wider discourse on research and innovation partnerships.

The collective findings and feedback from those we fund are helping us to deepen our understanding across all our work and improving our ability to respond to the opportunities and challenges for building effective and equitable partnerships in humanitarian settings.

Our updated Principles of Partnership

Strong and equitable partnerships do not materialise without consciousness and intent. Time and resources are needed to build, maintain and nurture partnerships. Funders, including ourselves, need to recognise it in our grant-making strategies.

Drawing together our learning from the last ten years we have set out our updated Principles of Partnership. We believe these principles enable healthy and equitable partnerships to be achieved and we are committed to upholding them.

4. Responsibility

Focusing on roles and responsibilities of partners towards each other, as well as towards their shared work and stakeholders, helps build a culture of ethical behaviour and accountability that supports equity in a partnership.

3. Mutual benefit

For partnerships to thrive, all partners must feel the value of working together. Agreeing benefits from the start means partnerships are more likely to stay on track and last longer.

2. Transparency

Partnerships should be formed on a basis of openness and trust. Transparency helps build trust and enables partners to work effectively when things go well, and importantly, when things go less well.

1. Equity

Every partnership should embed a culture of mutual respect and achieve a balance of power and decision-making. Partners should take proactive steps to overcome barriers to equity between parties.