Deadline: 20 January 2020
The 5% Initiative has launched a call for proposals focused on the response to malaria in the greater Sahel region and Central Africa.
The 5% Initiative is France’s additional mechanism to contribute to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF). Operational management of this mechanism is carried out by Expertise France (the French public agency for international technical assistance) under the supervision of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE).
Purpose
Ensuring universal access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment is an essential component of the Global Fund’s strategies to eliminate this pandemic. Pregnant women and children under 5 are particularly vulnerable groups for this disease. According to the Global Fund, “the concept of ‘key populations’ in the context of malaria is relatively new and not as well defined as it is for HIV and TB.” However, some categories do correspond to these key population groups. This includes migrants, internally displaced persons and indigenous populations in malaria-endemic areas who are often at higher risk of transmission, and generally have limited access to care and services, and are often marginalized.
This call for proposals sets out to support operational research projects to test innovative strategies to improve the access, quality and efficiency of diagnostic, prevention and treatment services.
Themes
3 complementary and non-exclusive themes are:
- Improving malaria prevention:
- Promoting the dissemination of new vector control tools as well as innovative strategies to the increase the coverage and use of impregnated mosquito nets, particularly in rural areas, through increased involvement of community health actors.
- Strengthening seasonal prophylaxis, including assessing seasonal chemoprevention strategies with target groups other than children under 5 in areas with highly seasonal transmission, working together with communities.
- Improving early diagnosis and treatment of malaria:
- Assessing and improving strategies for early diagnosis and treatment of malaria, especially in children or other vulnerable populations, and strengthening care and referrals for cases of severe malaria at the periphery of the health system. Particular attention will be given to projects that include integrated “test and treat” approaches by trained community health workers.
- Promoting health-seeking behaviors among communities by improving the level of knowledge and information (including information about free care).
- Improving field data collection and information systems at national level to increase the timeliness of national responses to outbreaks and demonstrate the relevance and effectiveness of community involvement in malaria.
- Modeling to improve the efficiency of the response:
- There is currently no single intervention to eliminate malaria. Depending on the transmission context, the available human capacity and the health system, programs implement a combination of specific interventions. Mathematical modeling can provide insights that can be used to develop appropriate responses or reactions based on available data and varying situations across the transmission continuum. Different modeling approaches can therefore be used to design intervention packages that respond to evolving program objectives. This call for projects will also consider proposals to assess the potential impact of introducing the existing combination of intervention tools, through modeling.
Funding Information
- The total grant amount from the 5% Initiative must cover at least 50% of the project budget and be between € 500,000 and € 1,500,000.
- It is mandatory for organizations with an annual budget of over €5 million to present cofinancing of at least 10% in the project budget. Including co-financing will be judged favorably for the other organizations.
- Project duration must be between 24 and 48 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for a grant, applicants must meet all the following conditions:
- Be a legal entity with its head office in one of the eligible countries or in France (i.e. be registered legally in an eligible country or in France). International organizations will not be able to lead the project or receive funding.
- Be implemented in partnership. Partners must be involved in project design and be responsible for implementing activities.
- Implementation of the budget must be delegated to project implementation partners.
- Include at least one local partner from each implementing country.
- Organizations must not have any statutory provisions that preclude Expertise France or any external auditor appointed by Expertise France from carrying out on-the-spot checks and inspections and having the relevant rights to access project sites and premises where the project will be carried out, including all documents and electronic data concerning the technical and financial management of the project.
- For this call for proposals, each organization can only apply once as lead applicant (lead agency). An organization can however be involved in several projects as a partner.
Eligible Countries
The countries eligible for this call must be eligible for Global Fund funding ant he 5% Initiative. For 2020, it was decided to reserve eligibility only for the countries of the Greater Sahel and Central Africa, namely: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gambia, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of Congo and Senegal.
For more information, visit https://www.initiative5pour100.fr/en/actualites/projet/improving-malaria-response-greater-sahel-and-central-africa-regions-178
