AFRO-NETS> Call for Proposals: Partnership for Global Health Equity: 2001

[Vic Neufeld <neufeld@mcmaster.ca>]

Call for Proposals: Partnership for Global Health Equity: 2001
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Overview

The Partnership for Global Health Equity ("the Partnership") is a
small grants facility created to catalyse exploration of mechanisms
for Canada-South-global partnerships that involve the production or
utilisation of equity-oriented research for health. The Partnership
is housed at IDRC and has a number of contributors, including IDRC,
RITC, CIDA, CSIH, CPHA, and other Canadian and developing country
health research organisations. 'IDRC' is the International Develop-
ment Research Centre; 'RITC' is the Research for International To-
bacco Control Secretariat; 'CIDA' is the Canadian International De-
velopment Agency; 'CSIH' is the Canadian Society for International
Health; 'CPHA' is the Canadian Public Health Association.

Proposals selected for funding under the theme of Globalisation and
Health will be eligible for consideration of co-funding by the Glob-
alisation and Health Programme, Cross-Sectoral Policies and Human
Rights Team, Department of Health and Development, World Health Or-
ganization. The September 2001 competition will be administered by
the Canadian Society for International Health.

In its pilot year (2001-2), the Partnership proposes to disburse ap-
proximately CAD 100,000. The Partnership will provide seed funding
(average $5-10,000) for a range of health research related activities
including (but not limited to):
* exploratory or pilot research involving partners from Canada and
   the South;
* collaborative workshops to assess research for development needs
   and utilization;
* proposal development;
* travel between project sites (including travel to projects for
   technical assistance, capacity building, etc);
* dissemination of research findings (in particular activities aimed
   at bridging the gap between research and policy);
* activities involving liaison or consultation around agenda setting
   between North-South and South-South partners.

The Partnership aims to fund health related research whose current
theme, approach, and/or partnerships do not readily fit under already
existing funding frameworks. In this way, we hope to identify some of
the current gaps in health research funding and begin to explore
mechanisms to increase available resources. The emphasis is on pro-
moting innovative health research activities. Proposals whose objec-
tives and partnerships fit under existing health research funding
structures within IDRC or from other donors and grant facilities are
encouraged to seek funding through these avenues.

Partnership Goals

The Partnership has parallel goals:
(1) to explore the range of Canadian and developing country research
     collaboration around global health issues; and
(2) to explore the processes and challenges involved in building mu-
     tually respectful and beneficial research partnerships.

Priority Research Areas

The Partnership has identified a number of priority health research
areas based on global disease burden and recognised gaps in the ex-
isting health research funding structures. Current priority research
areas include tobacco control policy, population health and commu-
nity-based approaches to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases,
health equity, and globalization and health. Please note, however,
that Partnership funding will not be limited to only those proposals
that explicitly address these issues. Rather, during its first year
of operation, the Partnership seeks to receive and review for funding
proposals addressing a broad range of global health issues. Funding
priority will be given to projects whose current theme, approach,
and/or partnerships are innovative and/or exploratory and do not
readily fit under existing funding frameworks and that consider and
assess gender and socio-economic inequalities as critical dimensions
of the research-related activities.

Our approach to health research

The Partnership for Global Health Equity seeks to encourage innova-
tive health research related activities and partnerships that reflect
the values promoted by IDRC, our developing country partners, and
other Partnership contributors. Specifically, the Partnership encour-
ages innovative research and proposals that are:

* focussed on health priorities faced by Southern countries,
* pro-equity and more specifically pro-poor,
* gender-sensitive,
* participatory, and
* trans-disciplinary.


Eligibility Criteria

Researchers, academics, and graduate students from a range of disci-
plines are eligible to submit proposals relevant to equity-oriented
health research. To submit an application, an applicant must be based
at a research institution, non-governmental organisation (NGO), or
university in Canada or in a developing country. Partnerships initi-
ated in the South are particularly encouraged. For Canadian appli-
cants to be eligible, proposals must demonstrate partnership with
Southern researchers and/or institutions. Proposals originating in
developing countries need not have a Canadian partner, however, they
must include a partnership with another Southern organisation. For
example, a research partnership involving a Southern university and a
Southern health oriented NGO would be eligible for funding through
the Partnership.

Criteria for applications

To apply for funding through the Partnership for Global Health Eq-
uity, the following documents must be received at the Centre by the
application deadline:

* A brief (3-5 pages) proposal describing the objectives, methods,
   and budget of the proposed research project. Proposals must address
   the Partnership's parallel goals:
   (1) to explore the range of Canadian and developing country re-
    search collaboration around global health issues; and
   (2) to explore the processes and challenges involved in building
    mutually respectful and beneficial research partnerships;
* List of partners (individuals and institutions) involved in the re
   search project including range of disciplines represented on the
   team, evidence of sufficient training and/or expertise in the area
   of research, and evidence of institutional credibility;
* Letter of support from all partners indicating clear institutional
   commitment to the proposed research and partnership;
* Proof of Canadian or developing country citizenship or landed immi-
   grant status;
* Evidence of language proficiency for the site of study, or indica-
   tion of measures to be taken to ensure effective communication
   (e.g., current or on-site language training, or translation or in-
   terpretation assistance).

Research proposal requirements

Proposals must:
* be relevant to the goals and objectives of the Partnership
* identify and describe the location where the research or research-
   related activity will be carried out
* include the rationale for undertaking the proposed research or re-
   search-related activity
* specify research goals, objectives, and expected results
* describe the research methodology
* discuss how both gender and social-sensitive analyses will be in-
   cluded
* demonstrate an intent to use a trans-disciplinary and participatory
   approach to research
* describe ethical considerations that may arise during the implemen-
   tation of the research and how these will be addressed
* include a bibliography
* include a budget providing details of the grant requested from the
   Partnership and showing contributions expected by research partners
   and other funding sources (if applicable). Examples of budget items
   that can be covered by the Partnership's funds include salary re-
   placement, local travel expenses, computer services, and other le-
   gitimate research support costs
* not exceed 5 single-spaced pages (excluding the bibliography).

Expected outputs

Upon completion of the proposed research, grant recipients will be
required to submit a final narrative report (10 pages excluding the
bibliography). It is expected that the final report:
* summarise the results of the research including a discussion on the
   extent to which the proposed objectives were met;
* provide insight to and assessment of the global health research
   possibilities revealed by the research completed;
* describe the experiences and lessons learned from the processes and
   challenges involved in building mutually respectful and beneficial
   partnerships.

Selection Committee

A selection committee will review proposals and select successful ap-
plications. The selection committee will be composed of at least six
health research experts and will include both Canadians and develop-
ing country personnel. Applications will be selected for funding
based on the degree to which the proposed research is relevant to the
goals, purpose, and priorities of the Partnership for Global Health
Equity and satisfies the eligibility criteria, the criteria for ap-
plication, and the research proposal requirements as outlined above.

Duration of Tenure

The activity supported by the grant must begin within six months of
the notification of the award. The grant is not transferable. The du-
ration of the project or component supported by the grant should not
normally exceed twelve months.

Size of Grants

Average grants range from $5,000 to $10,000 although, depending on
the amount of available funding, grant requests will be considered up
to a maximum of $30,000.

Applicants are asked to describe the entire budget for the research
project and all other sources of funding. While the Partnership may
not be able to entirely fund large research projects, it may be able
to contribute a portion of the funding towards a larger and/or estab-
lished research project. Applicants who already have funded research
projects may seek funding from the Partnership to conduct additional
research activities within their project, so long as the additional
research meets the Partnership goals and funding criteria. In this
case, the application should present the full budget for the project
and established sources of funding and show how and where the Part-
nership grant would contribute.

Schedule
September 14th, 2001: Deadline for receipt of complete applications
October 12th, 2001:   Announcement of grant
November, 2001:       Appropriation of grants. Tenure must be under-
                       taken by May 2002.

Contact

For more information, or to submit an application, please contact:

Partnership for Global Health Equity
Canadian Society for International Health
1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1105
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7B7, Canada
mailto:csih@csih.org

International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Street Address: 250 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 6M1, Canada
Mailing Address: PO Box 8500, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3H9, Canada
Fax: +613-567-7748
mailto:health@idrc.ca
http://www.idrc.ca/health


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