SOUTH-NORTH RESEARCH COLLABORATION TO SUPPORT LOCAL NGO WORK IN MADAGASCAR ON A SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The main objective of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) organizations is to promote human development through sport and/or physical activity. Researchers in this sector seek realistic methods for bridging theory to practice and for conducting investigations within the SDP field, which often involves working with remote/distant communities. This chapter presents a North-South collaboration between researchers and practitioners from Canada and Madagascar. The general objective was to support the needs of a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in the southwest of Madagascar (namely Bel Avenir), through the development of a partnership between this Malagasy NGO and a research team based in Canada. The research project was designed to measure and understand the effects of extracurricular activities (sports and arts) on the psychological well-being of young Malagasy people who live within extreme and difficult contexts of development. Methodology development, data collection, and the dissemination of findings involved a close collaboration between researchers from the University of Quebec in Montreal (Canada), the Catholic University of Madagascar (UCM), and practitioners from the NGO Bel Avenir. The project required the implementation of psychological evaluation and follow-up protocols that were developed with local practitioners trained in psychology at UCM. The North-South collaboration established within the framework of this project is an interesting and relevant illustration of the partnerships that could and should be established to give a voice to southern actors of SDP. Finally, even if the initial project was originally targeting the effects of extracurricular activities on the psychological well-being of young Malagasy, several adjustments had to be made to the research protocol due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacts. These adjustments will be discussed in this chapter.