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Research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) has developed a successful approach to the rapid scale-up of HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC) services in high prevalence countries, a vital component of the global HIV response. The model combines comprehensive quality assurance with operational research and has led to HTC expansion in mobile, home and facility-based settings. It has also allowed for responsiveness to local needs leading to post rape care services linked to HTC, services for the deaf and HTC for men who have sex with men (MSM) and other hidden populations in Africa. The global impact of this model is reflected in WHO policy, Ministry of Health HTC guidelines in numerous countries in Africa, the on-going work of an indigenous Kenyan NGO and expansion of HTC through community outreach in the UK.
This project, which commenced in 2000 and continues to this day, has addressed the settlement of conflicts within states. The project has yielded important findings in the areas of complex power-sharing, autonomy and self-governance, political participation mechanisms for non-dominant groups, peace-making and transitional arrangements in peace agreements. These findings have flowed into the policies and practices of major international actors (United Nations, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), and have been implemented in a number of sensitive contexts. The project findings were also applied directly in a significant number of international negotiations and settlements. This includes the independence of Kosovo and South Sudan, the peace negotiations on Darfur, UN planning for the transition in Libya, the United Nations-led negotiations on a settlement for the conflict in Syria, and the peace agreement and transitional arrangements addressing the deep crisis in Yemen.
Communicable diseases are a major health burden in the developing world. Early detection and accurate identification of infectious agents is key to their management. However, the complex procedures and logistics of current diagnostic tests often make them unsuitable for use in developing countries. Two technology platforms have been developed that have led to a new generation of simple and inexpensive rapid tests that can be applied in resource-limited settings. A spinout company was set up to allow translation of these platforms into new products. Three tests (Chlamydia, Hepatitis B and HIV) were launched since 2008, with test kits marketed, allowing patients to receive treatment for infections which would have previously gone unnoticed and untreated. The spinout company has raised >$30 million, of which >$20million is since 2008.
Based on research at UWE into mobile banking regulation, telecoms companies have been able to contribute to growth in these emerging markets internationally. The UWE findings have enabled them to understand the anti-money laundering (AML) and banking regulation implications of their mobile banking initiatives, giving them confidence and competitive advantage in negotiations by being fully versed in the local and international implications associated with mobile money and AML banking regulation. As a result, the France Telecom Group (FTG) has been able to successfully launch new subsidiaries in Tunisia, Niger, Armenia and Uganda which, by bringing mobile money services to new markets, has had a significant impact on local economies and employment.
Beyani's research on the protection of refugees' human rights demonstrably underpins his work as a drafter of the Kenyan Constitution, as a United Nations Special Rapporteur, and as an expert advisor on the content of international treaties concerning protections to be accorded to internally displaced persons. The impacts specifically ascribable to his research relate to:
Working with a farming co-operative in India, this project developed new software design and deployment methodologies to create a mobile phone system, Kheti, (Ref 4) for providing on-the-spot, and locally relevant agricultural advice.
In trials, Kheti handled queries from over 100 different farmers, helping to avoid critical threats to their crops and livelihoods.
Software companies employed the methodologies: Safal Solutions applied them to microfinance IT projects in India, generating savings for over one million people; SAP Research used methods evolving from this project to create technologies for supply chain management by thousands of small-scale Cashew and Shea Nut farmers in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
Fieldwork commissioned by Cadbury/Kraft, undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM), and carried out in Ghana, the Dominican Republic and India (2006-11), considers whether small scale farmers and workers have the social and economic capacity to sustain and expand their output of quality cocoa. The research has been instrumental in shifting the strategies of Cadbury and other major chocolate producers towards the sourcing of Fairtrade cocoa. Specific impacts include: the launch of the £45m Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP); Cadbury/Kraft converting its main product lines to certified Fairtrade; and the launch of the (US$400m) `Cocoa Life' programme by Mondelēz/Kraft, building on the success of CCP. Spill-over impacts are also evident: both Nestlé and Mars have adopted similar partnership strategies, and a subsequent increase in exposure has seen Fairtrade chocolate sales rise twelvefold over a four year period.
Research at Oxford funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) showed that countries with highly unequal resource distribution between culturally defined groups (`horizontal inequality') are more likely to experience conflict. This key insight contributed to changes in: DFID strategy towards conflict-affected areas; UNDP policy on post-conflict reconstruction; the work of the World Bank towards conflict; and OECD guidance on state-building in fragile states. The research also made a contribution to national policy discussions in a number of developing countries, including Nepal, Malaysia and Kenya.