Call for Proposals: Regional Health Partnerships Program

Deadline: 20-Apr-23

The Australian Government, through the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security (CHS or Centre) which sits within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT’s) Global Health Division, is seeking proposals for Regional Health Partnerships for the Pacific and Southeast Asia (RHP) under the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative (PHR).

The predecessor to the PHR, the $300 million Health Security Initiative for the Indo-Pacific Region (HSI), 2017-2022, aimed to reduce risks associated with emerging and endemic infectious diseases with the potential to cause social or economic harm on a national, regional or global scale. The HSI supported projects and partnerships in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, mainly implemented by flagship Australian institutions, to build the “core capacities” identified in WHO’s International Health Regulations (2005). The Initiative’s investments pivoted rapidly to support partner governments’ COVID-19 prevention and response strategies.

The RHP budget is up to $160 million over five years (2022-27) to support strategic partnerships and projects that deliver practical support to the region for both communicable and non-communicable disease prevention and control. Indicatively, funding will be allocated as follows with flexibility to adjust allocations to individual pillars in response to requirements and opportunities. A cap of $5 million will apply for projects. Strategic partnerships will be capped at $15 million, subject to the scope of activities to be delivered and geographic reach.

Strategic Partnerships

Indicative allocation $100 million
Will be awarded to highly capable and well-established organisations that can demonstrate:
- a strong track record of delivering public health projects in the Pacific and Southeast Asia in line with partner governments’ health priorities;
- a commitment to working in a flexible, responsive and collegiate way with other DFAT partner organisations; and
- a breadth of expertise that spans at least 2 or 3 of DFAT’s defined areas of work consistent with partner government priorities and demand.

Projects

Indicative allocation $60 million
Will be awarded to organisations that:
- have a smaller thematic or geographical footprint than strategic partners; or
- are first-time recipients of DFAT public health funding; or
- are delivering an activity in a single and relatively narrow area of defined priority.

Thematic Priorities

Communicable diseases: Indicative allocation of $100 million ($70 million in strategic partnerships and $30 million in projects)
- Ongoing communicable disease control priorities are as follows:
  - infection prevention and control;
  - disease surveillance and modelling;
  - vector surveillance and control;
  - emergency operations;
  - laboratory strengthening; and
  - field epidemiology workforce development.
- Building on pandemicrelated programming, higher priority will also be accorded to:
  - data for decision-making through improved health information systems;
  - community-based disease prevention and preparedness; and
  - workforce development beyond field epidemiology.
- Noting recent declines in routine vaccine coverage and the increased risk of outbreaks of vaccinepreventable diseases, very high priority will be accorded to:
  - immunisation policy and planning assistance;
  - support for catch-up immunisation campaigns; and/or
  - vaccine risk communication.
- RHP will also address other infectious disease challenges of high priority to partner governments, particularly:
  - TB, malaria and HIV/AIDs
  - dengue;
  - antimicrobial resistance;
  - sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); and/or
  - neglected tropical diseases.
Non-communicable diseases: Indicative allocation of $50 million ($30 million in strategic partnerships and $20 million in projects)
- Non-communicable disease control priorities are as follows:
  - health promotion for non-communicable disease prevention and treatment service awareness; and
  - support for noncommunicable disease screening, detection and early treatment.
- In the health promotion category, specific priorities include:
  - tobacco, alcohol and drug control;
  - diet and physical exercise; and
  - mental health and suicide prevention.
- In the screening, detection and treatment category, specific priorities include:
  - cervical cancer;
  - hypertension; and
  - diabetes.
Cross-cutting priorities: Indicative allocation of $10 million (in projects)
- All strategic partnership and project proponents are expected to explain how they would address One Health, climate and environmental change, community engagement, gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI), and how they might incorporate First Nations perspectives into their work.
- DFAT will additionally set aside funding for projects that directly pursue and support gender equality and inclusive development outcomes, in addition to projects which will reflect and embed Australia’s approach to First Nations engagement. This funding could be used to support:
  - organisations developing or implementing innovative approaches to delivery of services and information; data collection and analysis; workforce development and leadership; and advocacy efforts;
  - organisations in the region, including representative and rights organisations, that provide specialised advisory and/or brokering services;
  - initiatives which will contribute to the evidence base on issues of inclusion and equality and support translation of evidence into practice; or
  - initiatives that connect Australian and regional organisations working on similar challenges for mutual benefit, with a particular focus on First Nations engagement.
They are also interested in proposals that seek to strengthen public health policy leadership.

Operational Objectives

As represented in the provisional Program Logic included with the documentation for this call for proposals, the goal of the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative is to help build resilient and equitable health systems in the Indo-Pacific region, capable of progressively reducing disease burdens and responding effectively to health emergencies. The strategic objective of the PHR is that Australia is a trusted health partner in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, with stronger institutional linkages and high value placed on the public health expertise.
The goal and objective of Regional Health Partnerships are aligned with the PHR’s Program Logic Applicants must outline in their proposals how they would implement the outcomes applicable to Regional Health Partnerships.
The provisional PHR End-of-Program Outcomes (EOPOs) and Intermediate Outcomes (IOs) that apply to Regional Health Partnerships are as follows:
- EOPO1: Communicable diseases – Partner countries have improved ability to anticipate, prevent, detect and control communicable disease threats
  - IO 1.1: Strengthened capacity and systems to respond to epidemic and endemic communicable disease threats.
  - IO 1.2: Strengthened pandemic preparedness and outbreak response systems and capacity.
- EOPO2: Non-communicable diseases – Partner countries supported to better prevent and control non-communicable diseases
  - IO 2.1: Effective health promotion, policy and regulatory reform focused on NCD risk factors resulting in changes in behaviour and lifestyle choices.
  - IO 2.2: Strengthened screening, early detection and management of NCDs.
  - IO 2.3: Effective models of care are supported which promote physical and psychosocial wellbeing.
- EOPO4: Resilient health systems – Partner countries have improved capabilities, resources, regulatory mechanisms and systems to meet their country’s health needs
  - IO 4.2: Strengthened data systems, with quality data increasingly informing evidence-based decision-making to enhance health policy and programming.
  - IO 4.3: Workforce skills enhanced across key areas, addressing partner government priority needs and fostering localisation.
  - IO 4.4: High quality advice made available to meet partner needs, including by deployees.
- Cross-cutting themes
  - IO CCI: Greater adoption of One Health approaches and integration of climate change considerations.
  - IO CC2: Stronger GEDSI integration and outcomes across PHR investments.
  - IO CC3: Increased community engagement across PHR investments.

Eligible Countries

RHP will be implemented in the Pacific (Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam).
Funding decisions will ensure an appropriate balance of support across the relevant countries. Proposals involving activities across the Pacific or Southeast Asian regions, or several eligible countries, are encouraged. Single country project proposals will also be considered if sufficiently high impact. Strategic partners are required to deliver activities in at least two eligible countries.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications under RHP are open to all Australian and regional organisations – public, private, non-government, inter-governmental, academic and research institutions. Organisations submitting proposals must have existing networks in recipient countries and must not have any barriers that would prevent them from operating in the Indo-Pacific region.
Public sector partners and multilateral organisations that have been, or are in negotiations to be, engaged by DFAT directly under the PHR are ineligible to apply for or receive any Regional Health Partnership funding, but may join or support a consortium bid as a non-Lead, non-funded Organisation.
When submitting your proposal, you must decide whether you are applying for funding or a strategic partnership, in line with the guidance above. The application form in SmartyGrants will help you to choose the best option. Organisations awarded a strategic partnership are not eligible for additional project funding but may join or support a consortium bid for project funding as a non-Lead, non-funded Organisation.
Where two or more organisations wish to enter into a consortium arrangement, one partner must be nominated as the Lead Organisation that will sign the agreement with DFAT, if successful. The Lead Organisation will be accountable to DFAT for financial management and the performance of the consortium in achieving activity objectives. Consortiums that include partnerships between Lead Organisations and organisations within eligible countries in the Indo-Pacific region are encouraged. Entities within eligible countries and regional organisations are also eligible to apply as Lead Organisations. There is no requirement to include an Australian partner.
Consortium proposals must be supported by a separate letter of association from each partner providing information about itself, noting the relationship between the Lead Organisation and partner organisation(s), and expressing the intent to collaborate.
There are no restrictions on consortium membership and organisations may be involved in several consortiums for the purpose of responding to this call for proposals, subject to the restrictions above applying to strategic partners, multilateral and public sector partners.
DFAT reserves the right to reassess any proposal if, following submission, the membership of a consortium changes, including through the withdrawal of a consortium member.
Individuals can appear as key personnel on a maximum of two (2) proposals for RHP.
Individuals with conflicting commitments and current and recent DFAT employees must not be included in the proposal or as individuals who may be engaged by the applicant if selected through the assessment process.
Proposals compiled with the assistance of current or recent DFAT employees will be excluded from consideration. Recent DFAT employees are those whose employment ceased within the nine months prior to the submission of the proposal and who were substantially involved in the design, preparation, appraisal, review and/or daily management of this or substantially related programs, including activities under the Health Security Initiative (HSI) and/or other DFAT-funded health programming.
Proposals that do not meet eligibility requirements will be ruled ineligible and excluded from assessment.