Recognising the work of the African Independent Ethics Committee (AIEC)
Since 2020, the African Independent Ethics Committee (AIEC) has given ethics advice and clearance to researchers working in Africa and with African communities. Mtandao, the Africa Social Work and Development Network (ASWDNet), set up the committee. Its members come from several African countries and disciplines. This post recognises their work and thanks them for it.
Why the committee was set up
Data collected between 2013 and 2019 showed that most researchers in Africa do not have access to an ethics committee. Where committees exist, many researchers see them as slow, costly and poorly suited to community based and Indigenous methods. Many university and research centre ethics boards on the continent rely on Western codes, literature and values, and leave out African philosophies such as Ubuntu. As a result, much research in Africa goes ahead with no ethics review at all.
Some researchers from outside Africa get ethics approval only in their own country, or use practices in Africa that would not be accepted at home. This is known as ethics dumping. It leaves African participants and communities with little protection and little say in how research about them is done.
The AIEC was set up to respond to both problems. It offers review based on African realities and values. Researchers who have no committee, or whose committee does not reflect African contexts, can still get ethics guidance.
What committee members do
Committee members review ethics applications from students, early career researchers, African institutions and researchers from outside Africa. Each review asks three questions. Does the research reflect Ubuntu values such as reciprocity, relational accountability and communityness? Are participants, families and communities protected through informed consent, dignity, community consultation and respect for local protocols? Does the research build African research capacity and recognise and pay communities and co-researchers fairly?
Members also review retrospective applications. Some researchers had no working ethics committee when they began their study. These reviews help them store, use and report their findings in ways that respect the communities involved.
Members use three guiding documents based on African ethics: The San Code of Research Ethics, the African Research Ethics and Malpractice Statement (AREMS) and the Eight Basic Ubuntu Ethics in Research. The committee has also published a series of ethics letters in the African Journal of Social Work (AJSW). The letters cover advice for institutional ethics committees, an African view of ethics, the ethical use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), and authorship in the age of AI.
Many reviews are free, especially for students and early career researchers. Members give their time and expertise because they believe African research should meet African ethical standards. Through their feedback, many students and early career researchers learn to write ethics statements based on their own families, communities and philosophies.
Asante. Siyabonga. Tatenda. Dankie. Medaase. Ẹ ṣe. Merci. አመሰግናለሁ . Ke a leboga. Shukran
We thank every member of the AIEC for their careful reviews, their patience with applicants and their commitment to protecting African communities. We also thank our Ethics Officer, Olabisi Adebawo (Nigeria), who manages applications and communication with applicants, and our Ethics Advisor, Megersa Tolera (Ethiopia). Your work gives researchers who have no other source of ethics review access to African centred advice.
Join the committee
The AIEC is growing. It welcomes nominations for African cultural experts, Indigenous leaders such as village leaders, chiefs or kings, spiritual leaders, health workers, legal professionals, primary or secondary school teachers and media professionals. Please email nominations to asw@africasocialwork.net. To learn more about the committee, its guiding documents and how to apply for ethics advice, visit our ethics page.
Further in depth reading
- Letter from the African Independent Ethics Committee (AIEC): Advice for institutional ethics committees on process, roles, composition and decolonisation (AJSW)
- An African view of ethics for research and practice: Ethics letter two from the AIEC (AJSW)
- A sample ethics application to the AIEC for research on social work with women victims of violence in Morocco (AJSW)
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