Ethical dilemmas and political challenges in global health and development research

Ethical dilemmas and political challenges in global health and development research

Ethical dilemmas are an inherent part of conducting research on global health and development. Researchers within these fields often work within complex fields of power relations involving donors, NGOs and governments, and often study sensitive or controversial issues, such as marginalization, gender and reproductive health and rights.

Drawing on their experiences conducting ethnographic research, policy analysis and programme evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa, Katerini Storeng and Joseph Zulu will reflect on ethical dilemmas and political challenges researchers may encounter when studying politically and culturally sensitive issues. In conversation with the audience, they will discuss how researchers might respond to these challenges and the implications for knowledge production about global health and development.

Katerini T Storeng is Associate Professor at the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo and honorary lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Her research aims to advance a critical ethnographic perspective on the social and political dynamics of global health policy, research and practice, focusing on global advocacy coalitions, expert communities, and public-private partnerships. She has also studied the lived experience and social and economic consequences of pregnancy-related illness within weak health systems, notably in Burkina Faso.

Joseph Mumba Zulu is a post-doctoral researcher and Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Health, University of Zambia. Dr. Zulu is a centra partner in the CISMAC study Research Initiative to Support the Empowerment of girls (RISE).

This conversation is organised by
Global Health Anthropology Research Group, Centre for International Health (UiB). This seminar is the first part of of seminar series on ethical and political dilemmas in research at the Bergen Resource Centre for International development CMI/UiB.