Ethical research in fragile and conflict-affected contexts: Guidelines for applicants

These guidelines offers essential ethical guidelines for research in fragile and conflict-affected settings, focusing on equitable partnerships, harm mitigation, and ethical design.

It provides practical steps for M&E practitioners to safeguard participants, ensure data protection, and adapt to evolving risks.

This resource by Groves-Williams and Shanks (2021) provides guidelines for conducting ethical research in fragile and conflict-affected settings. It is aimed at researchers, funders, and review bodies involved in research projects within these contexts. The guidelines focus on addressing the ethical challenges unique to such environments, offering a framework for safeguarding participants and ensuring the research is beneficial and conflict-sensitive. It emphasizes the need for equitable partnerships, continuous ethical reflection throughout the research cycle, and the protection of vulnerable participants.

Key features

• Fair and equitable partnerships: Highlights the importance of addressing power imbalances between international and local researchers, and ensuring meaningful local involvement throughout the research process.
• Ethical research design: Emphasizes integrating ethics into the design phase, considering local conflict dynamics, social identities, and potential risks.
• Protection protocols: Calls for robust protocols to safeguard both researchers and participants, with detailed harm mitigation strategies for vulnerable groups.
• Ethical implementation: Stresses data protection, informed consent as an ongoing process, and researcher training to ensure ethical practices in unpredictable settings.
• Ethical dissemination: Provides guidance on collaborating with local stakeholders to disseminate findings in ways that are beneficial and accessible to local communities.
• Monitoring and evaluation of ethics: Encourages ongoing risk assessment, adapting methodologies as needed, and evaluating ethical adherence post-research.
• Flexible, fair, and transparent budgeting and timelines: Advises on the need for adaptable timelines and sufficient resources to meet ethical commitments and support local partners.

How would you use the resource?

M&E practitioners conducting research in fragile or conflict-affected areas can use these guidelines to ensure that their research proposals meet the highest ethical standards. The checklist can be integrated into the planning process to ensure equitable partnerships with local researchers, protect vulnerable populations, and maintain flexibility to adapt to evolving risks. The resource is especially useful for those navigating complex power dynamics and seeking to minimise harm in high-risk environments.

Why are we recommending it?

This resource provides a robust framework for ensuring that research conducted in fragile and conflict-affected contexts adheres to ethical principles, safeguarding both participants and researchers. It is particularly valuable for practitioners working in high-risk areas, offering clear, actionable steps to address the unique ethical challenges posed by FCV environments.