Innovations for Poverty Action’s Global Financial Inclusion Fund Call

Deadline- 23 August 2013

The Innovations for Poverty Action’s (IPA) Global Financial Inclusion Fund (GFII) has issued a Call for Expressions of Interest seeking submissions of new projects under the GFII Competitive Funds.

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) for conducting rigorous research on identifying innovative products and programs. This program is supported by Global Financial Inclusion Fund (GFII) at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).

GFII manages two research funds these are-

The Yale Savings and Payments Research Fund (YASPR) focuses on-

    Innovations that most effectively enable improved usage of savings and payments services by the poor (through reduced cost, reduced risk, improved learning, behavioral incentives, regulatory reform, etc.)
    The impact that the use of improved savings products and payments channels has on the welfare of the poor

The Citi IPA Financial Capability Research Fund (FCRF) focuses on-

    product-linked financial education
    incentives for behavior change and use of financial services
    product design as a way to encourage appropriate use of financial instruments

Eligibility & Criteria-

    Each application must be presented by a team consisting of-

    one or more researchers involved in the design of the intervention and responsible for carrying out a rigorous evaluation of the program and
    one or more practitioner institutions from the financial sector who will partner with the research team on the proposed intervention. Researchers must be affiliated with a research institution or a university and either hold a PhD or be a current PhD candidate in a relevant social science or engineering discipline, such as economics, statistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, public health, education, or computer science.  They must demonstrate experience in field research and randomized trials.

    The Yale Savings and Payments Research Fund (YASPR) encourages research projects focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are as well as applications from in-country researchers based in those regions or from teams with one or more in-country researchers in those regions.
    The Citi IPA Financial Capability Research Fund (FCRF) encourages research projects in all countries except the United States, with a particular interest in projects from emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey.

For more information, visit this link

Japan Water Forum Fund 2013 for Grassroots NGOs

Deadline: 19 August 2013

The Japan Water Forum (JWF) Fund 2013 is accepting proposals from grassroots organizations in developing countries to work on projects related to water and sanitation.

The Japan Water Forum’s vision is of a world where everyone enjoys the lasting benefits and values of safe water. It promotes an understanding of the fundamental impact of water on everyone’s lives, leading to decisive action to address the water issues on the planet. It works in Japan, in the Asia-Pacific Region and Worldwide. It acts as a facilitator between  acts as facilitator for Governments, international & UN organizations, developments banks, water partnerships, private sector, NGOs / Civil Society Organizations and the Academia.

JWF Funding can be requested for projects related to:

    Installation of rainwater-harvesting tanks, ponds or digging wells;
    Development of small scale water supply systems;
    Building new toilets and upgrading existing sanitation facilities;
    Prevention of water-related disasters projects;
    Establishment and encouragement of water-efficient irrigation;
    Solving gender issues on water and sanitation;
    Water environment restoration activities.

The JWF Fund provides grants of US $1000 per project/organization. Grassroots-based NGOs in the following countries can apply for this funding opportunity:

Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Rep., Chad, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé e Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia (49 countries)

For more information, visit this link.

CNIHR Funding Opportunity for HIV Research

Deadline: 16 October 2013

The CNIHR (Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research) has announced funding of up to 2 years in length and with up to $150,000 direct cost per year for both international and U.S.-based early stage investigators from outside the field of HIV research to help address key scientific questions in HIV research, including emerging issues of long-term survival with HIV infection, prevention of HIV transmission and research towards a cure.

Eligible applicants include junior investigators who have either completed their first terminal research degree (e.g. PhD, MD, DVM, MMed + postdoctoral fellowship or formal research training and experience) or medical residency within the last ten years from the concept proposal deadline (i.e. 16 October 2003), and who have a faculty or equivalent position (e.g. assistant professor, senior lecturer, etc.) in good standing at an academic institution or have a comparable position in a not for profit organization or institution with a primary mission of research. U.S. Federal Government employees are ineligible to apply.

Research topics could include any aspect of HIV and HIV-related research, but may not include prospective human interventional trials (e.g. clinical trials of new drugs, treatments, or devices; or off-label use of a licensed drug). Studies of animal models, stored samples from existing cohorts, small pathogenesis studies or in vitro trials are acceptable.

Awards will be funded for 1-2 years, up to $150,000 (direct costs) per year plus applicable indirect costs.  Second year funding is contingent upon demonstration of satisfactory progress during year one. International awardee institution’s indirect cost rate is limited to 8%. Awarded funds may be used for salary, technical support, laboratory supplies, equipment, and travel to a scientific conference or other training activities directly related to the proposed research project. Successful applicants will be expected to contribute at least 25% of their time to the CNIHR project. Salary support for the CNIHR effort can be budgeted in the CNIHR project or can come from another source, e.g., an institutional start-up package. Generally, funds may not be used to purchase computers unless they can be justified as key to the conduct of the study (data collection, tied to equipment, etc). Additionally, funds may not be used to offset losses of funding incurred through non-renewal of grant funds or through decreases in grant funds due to across-the-board cuts.

Ten to twelve grants are anticipated to be awarded in conjunction with the XX International AIDS Conference, which will be held in Melbourne, Australia from 20-25 July 2014.

For more information, visit this link.

International Initiative for Impact Evaluation Request for Proposals 2013

Deadline: 30 August 2013

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) seeks to improve the lives of poor people in low- and middle-income countries by providing, and synthesizing, evidence on what programmes work, in terms of which outcomes, for which group of people, at what cost and under what conditions.

3ie has issued the Systematic Reviews Call 6 Request for Proposals to increase the international community’s use of evidence in policy making. This is the sixth call for proposals under 3ie’s systematic reviews programme.

3ie, together with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the International Fund for Agricultural evelopment (IFAD), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Kingdom Department for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), have developed seven systematic review questions.

There will be one award for each of these questions, but 3ie and its partners may choose to fund fewer reviews if insufficient proposals of adequate quality are received. This is an exciting opportunity to work on highly policy relevant research which will directly inform the policies of the funding agencies.

Agriculture

Question 1 (AGRA/IFAD)

What are effective modes of delivery of information (for example, on markets, weather, soil conditions) to improve farmer decisions and uptake of improved seeds, better soil management practices and technologies?

Question 2 (AGRA/IFAD)

What are effective types of contractual arrangements (for example, fair trade schemes, cooperatives formation) to increase smallholders’ market power, food security, marketed surplus and net returns?

Question 3 (AGRA/IFAD)

What are the most cost-effective interventions (for example, participatory breeding, village-level agro dealers, post-harvest management) to incentivise smallholders to adopt improved seeds, and better practices and technologies?

Question 4 (AGRA/IFAD)

What combinations of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) technologies are most cost effective in increasing agricultural productivity and smallholder incomes?

Question 5 (USAID)

What are effective interventions in promoting upgrading in agriculture (using investments and/or innovations that add value to products or services at the farm or value chain levels) that foster economic growth and benefits the poor?

Climate change

Question 6 (USAID)

What are effective economic interventions to reduce mal-adaptation and vulnerability to climate change (for example, living in flood plains, developing coastal areas, irrigating deserts for crop production) and to incentivise investments that promote climate change resilience?

Property rights and land policy

Question 7 (MCC)

What property rights and land-policy interventions are most cost-effective at promoting economic development (i.e., reducing costs and increasing productivity and incomes)? These interventions can include, but are not limited to, legal and policy reforms, institutional reforms, decentralisation of landrelated services, improvements to land mapping and surveying systems, formalization of property rights and improved dispute resolution facilities.
For more information, visit this link.