In 2022 The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) finally agreed to publish the review of their UK AID Connect funding mechanism. This expert review was conducted by the academic board of the Learning from Consortia programme led by BOND, which was funded through UK Aid Connect to support the 14 multi-stakeholder consortia and generate learning around the programme’s five cross-cutting themes: consortia working; innovation; community engagement; gender equality; and Value for Money. The review was published as an Appendix of the UK Aid Connect 2021 Annual Report.
The review was neither an evaluation of the UK Aid Connect programme, nor of the performance of the funded consortia. The learning and recommendations presented focused on the funding model, rather than on consortia practice, with the intention of supporting funders, policy makers and other stakeholders to design future funding initiatives for complex, collaborative programmes. More in-depth examples of good practice in consortia working are documented in the accompanying practitioners’ guide and other outputs from the Learning from Consortia programme.
The review is available to access here.
Rethinking Research Collaborative 