Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review

As decolonisation awareness and activism amplifies in the mainstream masses and within academic realms across a variety of fields, the time is right to converge parallel movements to decolonise the fields of global health and evaluation by restructuring relations of dependency and domination reified...

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Main Authors: Ichhya Pant, Sonal Khosla, Jasmine Tenpa Lama, Vidhya Shanker, Mohammed AlKhaldi, Aisha El-Basuoni, Beth Michel, Khalil Bitar, Ifeanyi McWilliams Nsofor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLOS Global Public Health
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10021742/?tool=EBI
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author Ichhya Pant
Sonal Khosla
Jasmine Tenpa Lama
Vidhya Shanker
Mohammed AlKhaldi
Aisha El-Basuoni
Beth Michel
Khalil Bitar
Ifeanyi McWilliams Nsofor
author_facet Ichhya Pant
Sonal Khosla
Jasmine Tenpa Lama
Vidhya Shanker
Mohammed AlKhaldi
Aisha El-Basuoni
Beth Michel
Khalil Bitar
Ifeanyi McWilliams Nsofor
author_sort Ichhya Pant
collection DOAJ
description As decolonisation awareness and activism amplifies in the mainstream masses and within academic realms across a variety of fields, the time is right to converge parallel movements to decolonise the fields of global health and evaluation by restructuring relations of dependency and domination reified through the “foreign gaze”1 or “white gaze.” We conducted a review of relevant records with the following inclusion criteria–they define or advocate for the decolonisation of global health evaluation or explicate methods, policies or interventions to decolonise global health evaluation published by advocates of the decolonisation movement from both fields. These records were derived following a systematic article search by the lead autthor on Google, Google Scholar, NewsBank, and PubMed using the following keywords: “decolonising” and “global health,” “evaluation,” or “global health evaluation” replicating a digital search strategy utilized by scoping reviews across a variety of topics. Because the topic of interest is nascent and still emerging, the date range was not restricted. The lead author screened abstracts retrieved from the search. In total, 57 records, ranging in publication date from 1994 to 2020, were selected and charted for this review. We reviewed these records to identify socio-ecological factors that influence the decolonisation of global health evaluation, such as decolonising minds; reorienting funders and reforming funding mechanisms; and investing in sustainable capacity exchange. In doing so, we reflected on our positionality as well as our internalisation and potential reinforcement of colonial relations in the process of reporting our results. In the context of turmoil and transition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our scoping review offers a starting point to embark on a journey first to transform and decolonise global health evaluation and then to achieve the greater goal of equity and justice.
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spelling doaj.art-de01c17865f749189104346e8d2497ac2023-09-03T14:34:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLOS Global Public Health2767-33752022-01-01211Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping reviewIchhya PantSonal KhoslaJasmine Tenpa LamaVidhya ShankerMohammed AlKhaldiAisha El-BasuoniBeth MichelKhalil BitarIfeanyi McWilliams NsoforAs decolonisation awareness and activism amplifies in the mainstream masses and within academic realms across a variety of fields, the time is right to converge parallel movements to decolonise the fields of global health and evaluation by restructuring relations of dependency and domination reified through the “foreign gaze”1 or “white gaze.” We conducted a review of relevant records with the following inclusion criteria–they define or advocate for the decolonisation of global health evaluation or explicate methods, policies or interventions to decolonise global health evaluation published by advocates of the decolonisation movement from both fields. These records were derived following a systematic article search by the lead autthor on Google, Google Scholar, NewsBank, and PubMed using the following keywords: “decolonising” and “global health,” “evaluation,” or “global health evaluation” replicating a digital search strategy utilized by scoping reviews across a variety of topics. Because the topic of interest is nascent and still emerging, the date range was not restricted. The lead author screened abstracts retrieved from the search. In total, 57 records, ranging in publication date from 1994 to 2020, were selected and charted for this review. We reviewed these records to identify socio-ecological factors that influence the decolonisation of global health evaluation, such as decolonising minds; reorienting funders and reforming funding mechanisms; and investing in sustainable capacity exchange. In doing so, we reflected on our positionality as well as our internalisation and potential reinforcement of colonial relations in the process of reporting our results. In the context of turmoil and transition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our scoping review offers a starting point to embark on a journey first to transform and decolonise global health evaluation and then to achieve the greater goal of equity and justice.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10021742/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Ichhya Pant
Sonal Khosla
Jasmine Tenpa Lama
Vidhya Shanker
Mohammed AlKhaldi
Aisha El-Basuoni
Beth Michel
Khalil Bitar
Ifeanyi McWilliams Nsofor
Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review
PLOS Global Public Health
title Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review
title_full Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review
title_fullStr Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review
title_full_unstemmed Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review
title_short Decolonising global health evaluation: Synthesis from a scoping review
title_sort decolonising global health evaluation synthesis from a scoping review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10021742/?tool=EBI
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