The Ethiopian educational system has made promising advancements since the turn of the century. Despite this progress, education continues to grapple with a myriad of challenges, including differences in educational access and quality, insecure living conditions, and gender inequalities. Research can offer knowledge for tackling these challenges, but often it is knowledge from the global North that dominates, despite its questionable relevance to the global South. Therefore, this study analyses the evolvement of a Center for Comparative Education and Policy Studies, situated in an Ethiopian higher education context and supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and how the Center has contributed to developing knowledge that is relevant to local contexts. An important outcome of the Center was the development of a doctoral program in International and Comparative Education and the knowledge produced in the doctoral theses that emerged. Our inquiry concerns how Southern theory contributes to an increased understanding of the development of the Center and the relevance of the doctoral theses. The findings underscore the importance of expanding Southern knowledge in education and the need for further reflection on the geopolitics of knowledge in research capacity development cooperation.

This article aims to add to the body of literature on knowledge transfer in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) focusing on the core stakeholders’ experiences in Public-Private Development Partnership (PPDP) in Ethiopia and Zambia. The qualitative case study comparatively examines practices and barriers to promoting knowledge transfer in two TVET programmes in Ethiopia and Zambia— both applied a similar PPDP model. The study draws on data generated through semi-structured interviews based on narratives perspective. Key informants were purposively selected from among stakeholders who were directly involved in the two initiatives. The data analysis process follows thematic analysis. The results show that anchoring the PPDP initiatives with the nationally mandated Ministry and broadening coalition with the private sector are critical in transferring knowledge into the national TVET systems.  Knowledge transfer through PPDPs is challenged by difficulties of retaining staff the initiatives have invested and partnering with a model school isolated from a TVET system that the PPDP intends to influence.  This article points to consideration of local schools’ prior experience of delivering similar programmes in order to insert new programmes into TVET systems. In Ethiopia, new TVET interventions are installed in a country and school not familiar with the knowledge field contrary to the programme in Zambia which was built on the existing programme. The successful transfer of PPDP interventions and their sustainability, it is argued, requires implementation of the initiatives with sound knowledge of the local context, and application of adaptive practices that encourage collaboration with diversified and committed local stakeholders.

Ownership is commonly considered a key principle aiming to promote effective multi-stakeholder partnerships. This article explores the conceptualisation and experience of ownership in a multi-stakeholder initiative in TVET, with an empirical focus on a Public-Private Development Partnership (PPDP) in Ethiopia. The qualitative case study is based on insights derived from semi-structured interviews with project staff and partnership actors and an analysis of relevant documents. The findings indicate discrepancies between rhetoric and reality of ownership dynamics, which complicates the actual ownership practice. The goal of all-inclusive equitable participation, originally intended, is not achieved. Power is not equally shared in the initiative, as local actors play a limited role in the decision-making process, and therefore do not acquire ownership as intended. In this case, the PPDP approach reproduces inequality as international actors exert influence through indirect governance. This study suggests a coherent understanding of the ownership concept, which emphasises the relationship between all parties, promoting co-ownership, rather than merely defining the roles of donors and beneficiaries. PPDPs are likely to achieve better results and local actors may sustain outcomes when their capacity is built through active engagement in the process and the partnership is implemented through joint commitment, responsibility, and equal participation.

Reforms striving to bridge the humanitarian–development divide in refugee-hosting countries can alter the status quo related to refugee management and service provision. Such changes can result in obstacles to sustainable refugee inclusion when they challenge vested interests. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework outlining the conditions under which government bureaucracies are likely to cooperate in donor-initiated refugee integration reforms as well as when and how they resist with a focus on the role of governance structures. We draw on archival data, observation, and key informant interviews to apply our framework to the case of Ethiopia as the government and international partners engage in reform efforts to include refugees in the national education system and to move from a humanitarian- to development-oriented model of financing. In this case, we find that reforms backed by international donors fundamentally challenged the vested interests of existing bureaucracies and that the resulting resistance substantially narrowed the original policy goals and will likely have implications for bridging the humanitarian–development divide going forward.