Khulisa, together with its partners at LASER PULSE, recently completed a study on the nature and scope of trafficking in persons (TIP) in South Africa. The study involved several substantial challenges, including accessing victims/survivors of TIP and conducting this sensitive research during the COVID-19 pandemic. This “TIP tip” is the third and final tip in a series stemming from lessons learned during the TIP project.
“TIP tip” #3: Build multi-sectoral collaboration into every research design
Due to the numerous parties involved in the issue of countering trafficking in persons in South Africa, the TIP project required a multi-sectoral response. All of the relevant sectors – research team members, funders, and clients, within both government and civil society – needed an opportunity to collaborate on the research. Creating this multi-sectoral response was challenging and required time, passion, commitment, leadership, and accountability by both researchers and stakeholders.
To keep everyone informed and involved, we held regular meetings with research team members, funders, clients, and national stakeholders. It was particularly helpful to engage with multi-sectoral committees and groups that had already been established to address TIP, such as policy-mandated inter-sectoral committees and the civil society network.
Collaborating across sectors helped achieve several important goals during the TIP project:
· Representatives from various government departments and stakeholders assisted in following up on applications for approval.
· The collaboration allowed the research team to present directly to the end users of the research, who could engage with the preliminary findings as they emerged.
· Inter-sectoral committees and platforms acted as a mechanism for relevant and effective research implementation. We held regular presentations and discussions on the findings with the various stakeholders, ensuring the translation of those findings will inform future policy, strategy, and practice.
We recommend building multi-sectoral collaboration into every research design to strengthen research, feedback, and validation of results. Ongoing engagement and presentation of results keeps decision-makers informed of trends, insights, and practices.