Gender analysis project wins the 2022 CID Collaboration Award

Last week The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ & Care International PNG won the Council for International Development (CID) Collaboration Award.

This award highlights the importance of effective relationships, partnerships, and collaborative initiatives within and across the development and humanitarian sectors to tackle development challenges and global issues.

Our research project, a gender analysis of eye care services in Papua New Guinea, was selected out of several submissions from other CID members. Projects were judged based on their demonstration of the value of partnership and collaboration. The judging panel assessed how well the highlighted collaboration led to the success of the project, as well as the impact, scope, and creativity used to tell the story.

Foreign Affairs and Local Government Minister, Hon Nanaia Mahuta, presented the award to our Senior Programme Manager, Quenelda Clegg, at Parliament last week. Minister Mahuta said that “partnering and building resilience is the space I thrive in” and recognised the significance of locally-led and community-owned initiatives, which The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ and Care International PNG Gender Analysis project demonstrated.

A local researcher, Lavinia Magiar, led on this project, with support on the ground from Rosemary Isicar, our PNG Programmes and Operations Manager, and PNG General Manager, Agnes Mor. Lavinia shared with our research team that this was the first time she has led on an external consultancy. Typically, on projects led by overseas researchers, she has only acted as secondary investigator.

Using a local researcher was crucial for the project, especially given the nature of the topic being investigated, as it helped ensure that the research approach was culturally appropriate. Lavina was able to build rapport quickly and help put participants at ease, so they felt more comfortable disclosing sensitive information. The research project is also in line with our objective of strengthening local capacity and using evidence to inform programmatic decisions.

We are very proud to have supported this locally led initiative and to have the teams' efforts recognised by CID.

View our video submission below, or head over to our research page to learn more about the project and its findings.