Call for letters of intent: Addressing neglected areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa (ANSRHRA)

Eligibility

The ANSRHRA Initiative will prioritize projects that address the following five priority areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR):  

• improving access to family planning and contraceptive services 
• expanding access to safe abortion where legally permitted and post-abortion care 
• upholding SRHR rights and ensuring access to services for adolescents  
• preventing and improving services for people experiencing sexual and gender-based violence 
• strengthening advocacy for SRHR 

Successful projects will address at least one of these priority areas of SRHR.  

Letters of intent must demonstrate a capacity for gender-transformative change grounded in a feminist approach to research, integrating systems perspectives drawn from health systems research together with participatory and collaborative approaches to creating evidence, building on local priorities and knowledge, particularly of underserved populations. 

Project teams must include a researcher at an African-based institution in an eligible country as the principal investigator, a senior member of a civil society organization led by and/or prioritizing underserved populations who has been active in supporting priority areas of SRHR as a co-principal investigator, an independent researcher based at a Canadian institution as a co-principal investigator, and at least one relevant local-, district- or national-level decision-maker as a co-investigator from the same country as the principal investigator’s institution.  

The full list of eligibility requirements, including the list of eligible countries, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) can be found in the following links:  

1. Call for letters of intent document
2. FAQ document 

Scope

Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and other funding partners are investing up to CAD19.1 million to fund up to 16 implementation research teams to support gender-transformative implementation research in sub-Saharan Africa.

Focused on investments to transform service design and delivery and to strengthen the development and implementation of equitable and sustainable movements, the ANSRHRA Initiative will contribute to improved sexual and reproductive health and realization of rights while also building systems and structures that enable and support underserved populations, including women and girls, to demand and benefit from the full spectrum of SRHR.

The Initiative’s overall aim is to support greater realization of neglected SRHR by underserved populations, including women and girls, in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Application process     

This anticipatory funding opportunity will involve a two-stage process. In the first stage, interested applicants will be required to submit a letter of intent (LOI). This stage requires applicants to complete an eligibility checklist and upload supporting documents. Only applicants who are successful at the LOI stage will be invited to submit a full technical proposal. Specific requirements for the application process, including the LOI phase, are outlined in the call document.    

The deadline to submit an LOI is May 13, 2024 – 23:59 EDT. 

More details

 A virtual Q&A webinar will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, from 8:00-9:30 a.m. EDT/3:00-4:30 p.m. CAT in English with simultaneous French interpretation.    

Registration for this session is available here. Note that registration for the webinar will close on Monday, March 25, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. EDT/ 11:00 p.m. CAT.   

Once you have registered, a KUDO webinar link will be emailed to you one week before the event and again the day before the event.