A Toolkit for equitable budget allocations for research projects in the Global South

Inequitable budgeting is a significant barrier to equitable North-South research partnerships. This toolkit aims to promote budget equity in such partnerships. The toolkit's content was based on eight interviews with researchers across various disciplines and with a total of 122 years of research experience in the Global South and successful applications with different research funders. Simple thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Nine budget equity principles and values were identified: 1) acknowledging power asymmetries and committing to equity 2) planning and connecting with partners 3) understanding the funding call 4) flexibility for equity 5) autonomy in budget generation and spends 6) building research and financial capacity 7) costing everything and fairly 8) timely disbursements 9) being reflexive and feedbacking for change. These principles and values are described in detail along with questions for reflection and discussed in the context of broader equitable partnerships literature.