Stakeholder engagement in the development of genetically modified mosquitoes for malaria control in West Africa: lessons learned from 10 years of Target Malaria's work in Mali.

From 2012 to 2023, the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), based out of the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), was part of the Target Malaria research consortium working towards developing novel gene drive-based tools for controlling populations of malaria vector mosquitoes. As part of this work, Target Malaria Mali has undertaken a range of in-depth engagement activities with the communities where their research is conducted and with other stakeholders nationally. These activities were meant to ensure that the project's activities took place with the agreement of those communities, and that those communities were able to play a role in shaping the project's approach to ensure that its eventual outcomes were in line with their needs and concerns. This paper aims to conduct a critical assessment of those 10 years of stakeholder engagement in order to identify good practices which can inform future engagement work on gene drive research in West Africa. It sets out a range of approaches and practices that enabled the Target Malaria Mali team to engage a variety of stakeholders, to share information, collect feedback, and determine community agreement, in a manner that was inclusive, effective, and culturally appropriate. These can be useful tools for those working on gene drive research and other area-wide vector control methods in West African contexts to ensure that their research is aligned with the interests of the communities who are intended to be its ultimate beneficiaries, and to allow those communities to play a meaningful role in the research process.

Operationalizing stakeholder engagement for gene drive research in malaria elimination in Africa-translating guidance into practice.

Gene drive mosquitoes are increasingly considered a potential transformational tool for vector control of malaria mosquitoes. As part of efforts to promote responsible research in this field, a number of guidance documents have been published by the World Health Organization, National Academies and expert groups. While virtually all recent guidance documents on gene drive research stress the importance of stakeholder engagement activities, no specific guidelines on implementing them have been established. Target Malaria, a not-for-profit research consortium developing a vector-control gene drive approach to eliminate malaria, has reflected on how its stakeholder engagement strategy translates engagement guidance documents into practice. The project analysed and addressed the tension between the context specificities and the international recommendations. The engagement strategy combines published recommendations for responsible gene drive research, information collected from the local context where the project operates and a set of principles guiding the choices made. This strategy was first developed during the early phases of the project's research, years ahead of any activities with gene drive mosquitoes in those countries of operations. These earlier activities, and their related engagement, allow the project to develop and adapt an engagement strategy appropriate for potential gene drive research in its field site countries. This paper offers a description of a stakeholder engagement strategy operationalization based on (1) adaptation to stakeholder preferences, (2) inclusiveness and (3) empowerment and accountability. The authors hope to offer concrete examples to support other projects with the development and implementation of their engagement strategies with particular attention to the co-development principle.

Co-developing a common glossary with stakeholders for engagement on new genetic approaches for malaria control in a local African setting.

Stakeholder engagement is an essential pillar for the development of innovative public health interventions, including genetic approaches for malaria vector control. Scientific terminologies are mainly lacking in local languages, yet when research activities involve international partnership, the question of technical jargon and its translation is crucial for effective and meaningful communication with stakeholders. Target Malaria, a not-for-profit research consortium developing innovative genetic approaches to malaria vector control, carried out a linguistic exercise in Mali, Burkina Faso and Uganda to establish the appropriate translation of its key terminology to local languages of sites where the teams operate. While reviewing the literature, there was no commonly agreed approach to establish such glossary of technical terms in local languages of the field sites where Target Malaria operates. Because of its commitment to the value of co-development, Target Malaria decided to apply this principle for the linguistic work and to take the opportunity of this process to empower communities to take part in the dialogue on innovative vector control. The project worked with linguists from other institutions (whether public research ones or private language centre) who developed a first potential glossary in the local language after better understanding the project scientific approach. This initial glossary was then tested during focus groups with community members, which significantly improved the proposed translations by making them more appropriate to the local context and cultural understanding. The stepwise process revealed the complexity and importance of elaborating a common language with communities as well as the imbrication of language with cultural aspects. This exercise demonstrated the strength of a co-development approach with communities and language experts as a way to develop knowledge together and to tailor communication to the audience even in the language used.