Partnership for Global Health Equity 2001

Partnership for Global Health Equity: 2001 Call for Proposals

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, CSIH, CPHA, and other
Canadian and developing country health research organisations1. Proposals
selected for funding under the theme of Globalisation and Health will be
eligible for consideration of co-funding by the Globalisation and Health,
Cross-Sectoral Policies and Human Rights Team, Department of Health and
Development, World Health Organization.

In its pilot year (2001-2), the Partnership proposes to disburse
approximately CAD100,000. 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 general purpose of the Partnership is to fund health related research
whose current theme, approach, and/or partnerships do not readily fit under
already existing funding frameworks. In this way, the Partnership hopes to
identify some of the current gaps in health research funding and begin to
explore mechanisms to increase available resources. The emphasis is on
promoting innovative health research activities. Proposals whose objectives
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 mutually
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 existing health
research funding structures. Current priority research areas include tobacco
control policy, population health and community-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 innovative health
research related activities and partnerships that reflect the values promoted
by IDRC, our developing country partners, and other Partnership contributors.
Specifically, the Partnership encourages 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 disciplines 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 initiated in the South are particularly
encouraged. For Canadian applicants 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, must have 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 Equity, 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
research 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 research
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 immigrant
status, as appropriate;
 Applicants must provide evidence of language proficiency for the site of
study. Evidence may be either proof of adequate skills in the language of the
host country or indication of measures to be taken to ensure effective
communication (e.g., current or on-site language training, or translation or
interpretation 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
research-related activity
 specify research goals, objectives, and expected results
 describe the research methodology
 discuss how both gender and social-sensitive analyses will be included
 demonstrate an intent to use a trans-disciplinary and participatory
approach to research
 describe ethical considerations that may arise during the implementation 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 replacement, local travel expenses,
computer services, and other legitimate 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
applications. The selection committee will be composed of at least six health
research experts and will include both Canadians and developing 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 application, and the research proposal
requirements as outlined above.

Duration of Tenure
The activity supported by the grant must begin within twelve months of the
notification of the award. The grant is not transferable.

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 established 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 Partnership 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 undertaken by
November of 2002.

Contact
For more information, please contact
Partnership for Global Health Equity
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Street Address: 250 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 6M1
Mailing Address: PO Box 8500, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3H9
Fax: (613) 567-7748
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.idrc.ca/health