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Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research

International Development Research Center, Canada

Strategic Research on Governance,

Equity and Health for Eastern and Southern Africa

Call for Letters of Intent

Deadline: 8 July 2003

In collaboration with the World Health Organization,

an initiative fostered by the

Global Forum for Health Research

1.      Introduction

The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research was established in November 1999 as an initiative sponsored by the Global Forum for Health Research in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The Alliance aims to promote the generation, dissemination and use of knowledge for enhancing health system performance. One of its objectives is to stimulate the generation and synthesis of knowledge, encompassing evidence, tools and methods. To achieve this objective the Alliance has been undertaking strategic research to develop international knowledge in high priority but neglected or innovative areas, encouraging new policy thinking.

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) was created in 1970 by the Parliament of Canada. Its mission is to support research for development, especially research conducted in the South, by Southern researchers. The Governance, Equity and Health (GEH) Program Initiative of IDRC examines health systems through a governance lens and, conversely, uses health as an entry point to approach challenges of governance – how power is exercised, how decisions are taken, how citizens have their say (http://network.idrc.ca/geh). With an initial focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the GEH program supports research to:

• Strengthen and monitor the capacity of governments to ensure equitable financing and delivery of priority public health and health care services, especially to marginalized and underserved populations;

• Support informed and effective citizen demand and participation throughout the policy-to-practice process; and

• Increase the effectiveness of research-to-policy linkages in promoting the dual goals of health and social equity.

The Alliance and the International Development Research Center of Canada are collaborating in a process based on a competitive Call for Proposals to strengthen health systems, promote civic engagement, and make research matter. This collaboration aims to support the integration of political, social and policy analysis into research on public health and health care systems and policies in Eastern and Southern Africa. This research should provide solid grounds for making informed and needs-based decisions on the equitable financing and functioning of health systems. Innovative, evidence-based thinking and explicit attention to governance challenges such as accountability, transparency, corruption and civic engagement, are considered essential to deepen democracy and strengthen health and social equity. Relevant and scientifically sound research can promote effective citizen engagement – particularly among marginalized and under-served populations – in the development of health policy and the delivery of public services for health.

The Alliance-GEH collaboration will occur in three stages. Research teams wishing to be considered for Stages 1 and 2 must submit a letter of intent in response to this call. Stage 3 will be open to participants in Stages 1 and 2, as well as to other research teams. The three stages are:

1. Selection of 7 teams to participate in a skills and issues development workshop leading to writing of a pre-proposal. Selection will be based on letters of intent received in response to this call.

2. Funding of 5 teams, up to a maximum of USD 15,000, to conduct pilot research leading to the development of full proposals. Selection will be based on a review of pre-proposals developed during the workshop.

3. Funding of at least 2 strategic research projects with 2 to 3 years duration and a maximum of USD 150,000. A call for proposals will be issued at this stage and teams funded in the previous stage will compete for funding with other teams.

The Alliance will undertake a mapping exercise of research institutions in Eastern and Southern Africa to identify potential institutions, research capacity and interest across the range of GEH entry points and stakeholders within countries. The study should help identify promising institutions and researchers which could best profit from the workshop and seed funding as well as more mature institutions which would be expected to participate at the final stage. Institutions and researchers identified through the mapping exercise will be invited to participate in the two Calls (Letters of Intent, and Research Proposals), although both Calls are open to all institutions working in the Eastern and Southern Africa region as described below in Section 6.

2.      Objective

Health systems in Africa face special challenges given their development situation, their epidemiological profile and the opportunities to scale up disease control programmes. It is important that the new and larger policy and programme efforts currently being implemented improve the equity and responsiveness of health systems through approaches that strengthen and integrate actions at national and local levels. GEH has identified four entry points or elements of the problem:

1. the health system (e.g. effective delivery of quality services; human resources; effective regulation of public-private interactions to promote equitable access to quality services; integration of vertical programmes in a comprehensive system; transparency and accountability; corruption);

2. the policy process (e.g. formulating, implementing and evaluating pro-poor policy for health, fair and sustainable financing, influence of donors and globalization on policy);

3. priority conditions or interventions (such as TB and HIV/AIDS) as entry points into broader governance, equity and health systems issues, for example addressing the special challenges of control of specific diseases without further fragmenting fragile health systems; and

4. civic engagement (e.g. mechanisms to promote effective and informed participation and inclusion throughout the policy-to-practice process; exercising the right to health care as an arena for democratisation).

This first stage of the Alliance-IDRC collaboration invites Letters of Intent for Strategic Research in Governance, Equity and Health for Eastern and Southern Africa. The Letters of Intent should address GEH entry point a) plus any one or combination of entry points b), c) and d).

3.     Selection to participate in the workshop

Letters of intent should describe in outline form the strategic research proposal that would be undertaken for stage 3 described in section 1 above. The Alliance Board will select applicants on the basis of peer review of letters of intent. The criteria to be applied for selection are: scientific potential; capacity building potential; proven capacity to do quality research; relevance to country and regional priorities, and strategies to ensure take-up and impact of research results.

Applications are particularly encouraged from countries having limited research capacity but demonstrating researcher and policy maker commitment to building up capacity in Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR).

4.      Workshop

The skills and issues development workshop will be organized by the Alliance in collaboration with a research institution in an African country. The five-day workshop will aim to develop research skills and to identify research issues and data needs. A pre-proposal will be finalized at this stage based on drafts to be requested prior to the workshop. Highly qualified researchers in political science, economics, and public health will facilitate the workshop, which will be held in English. Three members per research team will be required to participate, one of whom must be a policy maker, practitioner, community representative or other potential research user.

5.      Seed funding

Seed funding will be provided to teams on a competitive basis after participation in the workshop. This funding will be used to undertake preliminary multi-disciplinary studies leading to writing of full proposals. Studies will have a maximum duration of 5 months and funding will be up to USD 15,000. Studies will focus on identifying issues, actors and data requirements and may involve consultations and data collection as well as the analysis of existing data.

6.      Who can apply

Research institutions, government agencies, health service providers and civil society organizations are eligible for funding. Applicants should ideally have a well established collaboration with another institution or internal unit leading to the formation of a team with at least one principal researcher and one policy/decision-maker, stakeholder or health service advocate. Applicants are also welcome who may not yet have such a team in place but who would like to develop it in the course of the preliminary study.

Research teams should integrate professionals with complementary disciplines and skills in health and social sciences (such as public health, economics, sociology, political science or anthropology).

Letters of intent will be accepted only from institutions in the following countries of Eastern and Southern African:

Research teams including members from countries outside Eastern and Southern Africa are eligible to apply. Only nationals from eligible countries will be funded, although travel support can be included for collaborators from outside the region.

Principal investigators currently funded by the Alliance are not eligible to apply, although they can participate as co-investigators.

6.      How to apply

• Letters of intent should be submitted in the format annexed. This format is also available in the Alliance Web site (Format for letters of intent). Letters exceeding the word limit will not be considered.

• Letters of intent must be written in English or French.

• Short versions of the curriculum vitae of the principal investigator and co-investigators should be annexed to the letter of intent.

• Letters of intent should be sent to the Alliance preferably by email as attachments to a cover letter. Letters of intent may also be posted if email is difficult. Faxes will not be accepted.

• Emailed or posted letters of intent should reach the Alliance not later than close of business on 8 July 2003.

Send proposals by email to:

alliancehpsr@who.int

Please state in the subject heading "GEH Research".

If mailed by post, send proposals to

Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research

Office No. 4123

World Health Organization

CH 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland

534, "A" Wing, Nirman Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi - 110 011

Phone: 91-11-23018955, 23792179, 23793632, 23017993; Fax: 23012450