The Strategic Initiative for Developing Capacity in Ethical Review (SIDCER) is an international collaborative initiative independently established to promote the highest ethical and scientific standards for health research, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of ethical review and regulatory science worldwide, with mutual understanding and respect for cultural, regional, and national differences. Global awareness has been raised regarding the importance of human subject protections and ethics in health research. A renewed focus has been placed on the importance of independent and competent ethical review and regulatory practices being established in all countries where health research is undertaken. SIDCER promotes a systematic approach to information gathering, knowledge sharing, and capacity-sharing. International ethics standards will not by themselves achieve sufficient protections for research participants. With this understanding in mind, the Good Clinical Practice Alliance- Europe and TDR/WHO facilitated the establishment of SIDCER in the early 2000's to address the fundamental ethical challenges encountered by health research globally. As an international partnership, SIDCER focuses its activities on developing global capacity in ethical review and regulatory oversight by developing and promoting Good Research Practices. An initial focus was on drafting, translating, distributing, and implementing the WHO Operational Guidelines for Ethics Committees That Review Biomedical Research (2000), published, translated, and distributed in more than 30 languages. The SIDCER mission lies in fostering independent in-country decision-making regarding the ethics of health research by establishing an international network for promoting the autonomy and dignity of research subjects. The SIDCER Guiding Principles: • the promotion and protection of the dignity of the human person; • the respect of cultural diversity and ethical values across societies; and • the promotion of independence in decision-making.