Newton Fund and Global Challenges Research Fund annual report 2017 to 2018
The annual report for the Newton Fund and Global Challenges Research Fund for 2017 to 2018 highlights the work of UK and international partners delivering research and innovation for sustainable development.
Created in 2014 and 2016 respectively, the Newton Fund and Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) equate to over £2 billion (UK investment only) to tackle global development challenges and strengthen the research and innovation capacity of developing countries, as part of the commitment set out in the UK Aid Strategy. Official Development Assistance funded research and innovation not only improves the lives of people living in developing countries but also benefits the UK.
This annual report shows spend in 2017-18 and how the Newton Fund and GCRF work to meet and support UN Sustainable Development Goals, with case studies from programmes, such as:
- The Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership (WCSSP) Newton Fund programme in South East Asia: High impact weather such as monsoons, tropical cyclones and cold surges, all have the potential to incur loss of life, injury and economic costs. The Met Office has led and developed a global network of science partnerships to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities to weather and climate variability and provided training to forecasters in-country on the prediction and communication of high impact weather.
- To improve the livelihoods of smallholder and larger scale farmers and reduce crop losses caused by pests, the GCRF funded PRISE project brings together different stakeholders in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia, including plant protection authorities, data experts, private sector companies, and the farmers themselves, and uses state-of-the-art crop and pest modelling techniques to provide users with advanced warning of a damaging outbreak and appropriate advice on mitigation responses.
- The Innovate UK and Nesta Global Innovation Policy Accelerator is a groundbreaking collaborative capability development programme for senior innovation policymakers. Supported by the Newton Fund, so far the accelerator has worked with 17 teams of innovation policy directors drawn from 70 agencies and ministries from 11 developing countries, reaching over 1,000 people on three continents, and connecting to officials from over 40 UK innovation policy institutions and organisations.
The report also sets out the funds’ objectives, how they have impact and how they support wider UK government objectives such as the UK Aid Strategy and International Research and Innovation Strategy. It explains how the funds have developed and will continue to improve.