Deadline: 11-Mar-22
The Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is offering grants under “Human Trafficking Research Initiative (HTRI)” to advance the understanding of what works to reduce trafficking and ultimately inform current policies and practices.
The primary focus of HTRI funding is to strengthen the evidence around potentially impactful programs using rigorous research methods. HTRI will consider human trafficking research projects that fall into any or all of the four P’s (prevention, protection, prosecution, partnership).
Research that is primarily qualitative or descriptive will NOT be considered for funding under HTRI. All research proposed under these seed grants should be in service of examining data or research plans or piloting studies that lead towards impact evaluations (randomized controlled trials) or other rigorous experimental research methods. Quasi-experimental and natural experiment designs will be considered, but preference will be given to seed grant applicants that focus on randomized evaluations.
The HTRI will consider proposals that include:
- Small research pilots of promising interventions: These are grants that would fund the cost of a small pilot to assess the feasibility and value of a larger research project. These grants are intended to be the first step of formal research for promising interventions and anti-trafficking activities.
- Seed money for a travel grant or staff time to build on nascent research ideas: In normal times, IPA has issued small travel grants for researchers to develop partnerships and explore the logistics of promising research ideas. While this grant can be used for travel, they recognize it may not be safe due to COVID-19.
- Small grants for data work using existing sources to examine program impact: These are small grants that will support researchers to use a partner’s administrative data or other existing data sets, conduct desk research to deepen previous research analysis, or create new analysis to help inform research project design and viability.
Funding Information
- Small research pilots of promising interventions: They anticipate funding between $10,000 to $50,000 per pilot.
- Seed money for a travel grant or staff time to build on nascent research ideas: They anticipate funding between $10,000 and $15,000 per award.
- Small grants for data work using existing sources to examine program impact: They anticipate funding awards of up to $10,000.
- Projects are expected to launch in mid-2022, submit a substantive progress report by December 31, 2022, and close by March 31, 2023.
Geographic Focus
- All projects must benefit people and communities for lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Please note that project activities and interventions can take place anywhere, but the intended beneficiaries must be from LMICs.
- HTRI is funded by the Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS) in the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Given PEMS investments in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Vietnam, HTRI will pay special attention to applications that benefit the people of these countries.
Eligibility Criteria
- Researchers must either hold a PhD or be currently pursuing a PhD in a relevant social science discipline. They must demonstrate experience in field research and randomized evaluations.
- The Human Trafficking Research Initiative will give preference to underrepresented researchers in the field.
- They encourage applications from minority researchers, such as women, junior scholars, first-generation college graduates, and citizens of lower- or middle-income countries.
- Local researchers and local organizations are necessary for the success of many human trafficking programs and assessments; this will be incorporated into the proposal assessment.
For more information, visit https://www.poverty-action.org/human-trafficking-research-initiative/competitive-fund