Deadline: 24-Jan-24
L’Initiative, a funding mechanism implemented by Expertise France, is currently accepting proposals to support projects that adopt a systemic approach to strengthening health systems at all levels (from community to national), their policy and regulation, their organizational structure, and the behaviors and practices of actors.
This approach prioritizes the strengthening of human resources for health and integrates an approach based on human rights and gender equality into all activities.
L’Initiative’s aim is to achieve universal access to health and to eliminate the HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria pandemics.
Strengthening Human Resources for Health (HRH) is a priority area for France’s global health interventions. France’s new global health strategy 2023-2027 identifies Human Resources for Health as the cornerstone of all health systems. HRH ensures the availability, continuity, accessibility and quality of services, the resilience of health systems, health security and universal health coverage.
Aims
- Under this call for proposals, L’Initiative will therefore be particularly focused on the promotion and prioritization of measures aimed at:
- Strengthening human resources for health through, in particular:
- Interventions to strengthen initial and ongoing training for human resources for health as a key catalyst to ensure effective provision to the population, i.e. having sufficient numbers of health personnel that are sufficiently competent and qualified to meet needs.
- Promoting training that provides certificates and diplomas, including for community health workers.
- Promoting gender mainstreaming as a major determinant of health in the training curricula for health professionals.
- Promoting training that follows international guidelines.
- Promoting the availability and quality of educational infrastructure and equipment.
- Interventions to support policies, programs and to strengthen and manage human resources for health, aimed in particular at:
- Geographic planning and distribution of human resources for health based on demographic and health data.
- Programs to structure and forecast plan professions.
- More efficient distribution of tasks.
- Occupational health.
- Of the key issues relating to HRH, this call for proposals aims to take action around:
- Strengthening community health systems through training and support for community actors.
- Gender equality and preventing discrimination.
- Improving the quality and acceptability of health services, including how welcoming they are.
- Improving the quality of health services and the care relationship.
- Interventions to strengthen initial and ongoing training for human resources for health as a key catalyst to ensure effective provision to the population, i.e. having sufficient numbers of health personnel that are sufficiently competent and qualified to meet needs.
- Strengthening national systems for procurement and supply management (PSM) systems for drugs and health products, as well as strengthening pharmaceutical governance including linkages with national and regional drug agencies.
- Projects that align HIV, tuberculosis and malaria control programs with sexual and reproductive health, maternal, child and adolescent health programs and integrated service delivery platforms at all levels of the health system, including at the community level.
- Strengthening health information systems, with particular focus on the production and use of safe, quality, timely, transparent and interoperable health data, respecting human rights and in accordance with the 14 ethical principles for the primary and secondary use of health data adopted and promoted in global health by the European Union.
- Strengthening human resources for health through, in particular:
Cross-Cutting Theme
- All projects must integrate a cross-cutting approach aimed at combating gender inequalities, in order to accelerate efforts to promote gender equality in health systems, in terms of human resources for health (combatting gender-based and sexual violence against health professionals, combatting professional inequalities in recruitment, awareness raising around gender equality in initial and ongoing training) and in access to care.
- The needs of women, men and people who do not adhere to gender norms must be systematically taken into account, in an effort to address existing inequalities, especially in terms of vulnerabilities to pandemics and in accessing care. This approach to gender also relates to health systems, by working to ensure effective participation of women in health systems and to provide quality services and products for each specific population group.
Funding Information
- The total requested grant amount must cover at least 50% of the project budget and be between €650,000 and €3,500,000.
- Project duration must be between 36 and 48 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- It must be submitted by a lead applicant, in collaboration with “implementing partners” or “associate stakeholders”:
- The “lead applicant” is the organization that submits the letter of intent and completes the full proposal if they are pre-selected. Lead applicants are the sole recipients of L’Initiative grants.
- The project lead applicant must be legally registered and have a board of directors/management committee and a registered headquarters in an eligible country or in France. International organizations, with the exception of regional non-state organizations, may not be the lead applicant or an implementing partner of projects. However, they can be associated stakeholders that do not receive any delegated budget.
- The lead applicant must have been legally registered for at least 3 years at the time of project submission.
- Lead applicants and implementing partners must not have any statutory provisions that prevent Expertise France, or any external auditor appointed by Expertise France, to carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections and have relevant rights to access the project sites and premises where the project will be carried out, including access to all documents and electronic data relating to the technical and financial management of the project.
- “Implementing partners” that are involved in the design and implementation of the project must receive sub-granting from the lead applicant.
- “Associated stakeholders” are other organizations linked to the project but are not sub-granted to (other donors, beneficiaries, national institutions, etc.).
- The lead applicant must have sufficient management capacity to manage the requested budget.
- Co-financing is required for a minimum of 10% of the total intervention budget if the lead applicant’s annual expenditure is more than 5 million Euros.
For more information, visit L’Initiative.