[John Mdluli]

Stakeholders can provide a very impactful input into the protocol and ICF development. Some of the word(s) used during the designing of the protocol might not be culturally and legally sensitive to the targeted  social context e.g. protocols developed in Europe and  intended for implementation  in Africa. Another example include a situation in which protocol developers and sponsors use words that are not appropriate to the targeted audience. For example, the use of words such as “Men who have sex with other Men” (MSM) or “Female Sex Workers”. Stakeholders might advice that such words be altered for socially acceptable words like “high risk population”. Good stakeholder engagement can provide us with the words that are both legally and culturally sensitive to the intended social context. Indicators for a successful stakeholder input can be measured by the proportion or the number of inputs/words made by the stakeholders into the protocol or Informed Consent Development (ICF) process