Ethics
It ’ s high time ?
The San issue ethics code for scientists
By Carol Posthumus
Cape Town - In retrospect , the trouble with being welcoming to visitors ( researchers actually ) who have travelled from afar to your community – as the San sadly found to their horror – is that often your new found “ friends ” greedily make off , like thieves in the night , with centuries of your indigenous knowledge and unique thoughts for their own commercial gain or academic vanity . Proverbially not looking back while the communities ’ intellectual riches are plundered , and the people remain poverty-stricken .
But making research history on the African continent recently at a gathering at The Company Gardens in Cape Town , attended by with the Kimberley-based San Institute Council , community members of the San and individuals from the worlds of academia
– from the TRUST Project – a San Code of Ethics was launched .
The Trust Project , EU-backed , is a plurastic project , a global collaborative , that looks to improve adherence to the highest ethical standards around the world .
The aim is to protect vulnerable communities where research is often carried out .
Speaking , in Afrikaans with a translator , at the launch Mario Mahongo acting chair of the San Council reflected on the words of the late and highly respected San leader Andries Steenkamp who asked that “ researchers come through the door , not through the window .” Steenkamp did much work on the Code of Ethics and a minute ’ s silence was observed in his memory .
Knock please
He said : “ The door stands for San processes . When researchers respect the door , the San can have research that is positive for us .” Hopefully they won ’ t come through the window any more like skelms ( thieves ) and knock at the appropriate doors of the San community .
Mahongo said that some of the research may be of benefit and fine use to the San , who say they have over the years been bombarded by researchers coming to the Kalahari looking into their language , genetics , hunter-gatherer lifestyle and medicinal plants and herbs , “ The problem is that often our communities do not benefit from this research , and remain in poverty , when we should also benefit from developments in food and medicinal products , that have derived from our knowledge .”
Boundaries
San Council member Leana Snyders said they were delighted with the launch of the San Code of Ethics , which is aimed at stopping exploitation and sets personal boundaries , so the San ’ s knowledge and information is not a free-for-all .
The journal Nature published the news of the San Code of Ethics , recalled the 2010 publication of the human genome sequence of four elderly San men in Namibia and Archbishop Desmond Tutu , and how this drew attention to the area of ethical approval . This research was widely perceived as immensely insulting .
The launch was attended by a large group of South Africans and people from around the world who work in the arenas of advancing ethics . Professor Klaus Leisinger , president of the Foundation of Global Values Alliance , commented that the San Code of Ethics is a milestone for the creation of fair research conditions .
“ The values “ respect ”, “ honesty ”, “ justice and fairness ” and “ care ” are applied to North- South research cooperation . The objective is that exploitative practices are avoided , participants treated as human beings and not as “ subjects ” and making sure that the community in which research is done participates in benefit sharing ,” he said . Prof Leisinger said that such a Code of Ethics should , indeed , become obligatory for all institutions involved in research .
The San Code of Ethics requires :
• Respect
• Honesty
• Justice and Fairness
• Care
The South African San Institute are contactable on admin @ sasi . org . za
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SABI | APRIL / MAY 2017