Objectives of the call
Despite the efforts made in the fight against malaria and the advances made between 2000 and 2019, the disease has reached a plateau and the response is no longer generating progress, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, the number of deaths due to malaria is estimated at 608,000 (over 32,000 more than in 2019) and the number of malaria cases worldwide has increased by 16 million compared with 2019 (249 million cases versus 233 in 2019). Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the overwhelming majority of cases (94%) and mortality (95%). Pregnant women and children under 5 are particularly vulnerable, as are gender differences in exposure to and treatment of the disease. Yet effective solutions to malaria exist (vector control, chemoprevention, the arrival of vaccines…).
This call for expressions of interest ambition is to bring these effective interventions closer to communities by promoting, strengthening and scaling up community health approaches – which play an essential role in improving access to and qualify of primary healthcare (prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, management and referral, raising awareness) – with the overall objective to improve the response to malaria.
The eligible countries are: Burundi, Guinea, Liberia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone.
Projects submitted may be implemented in one or more of the countries on this list. Multi-country projects will only be accepted if they are part of a clearly justified regional setting.
Please, consult our rules documentation for details about eligibility and evaluation criterias.
Applications must be sent by e-mail in PDF format and (in XLS format for budgets) before Monday January 13, 2025 at 12:00pm (Paris time UTC+1) to the following e-mail address: sarah.respaut@expertisefrance.fr ; sarah.marin@expertisefrance.fr ; adeline.battier@expertisefrance.fr ; antoine.pogorzelski@expertisefrance.fr or at ami.paludisme@expertisefrance.fr
If the size of the attachments exceeds 10 MB, you will need to send the documents in separate e-mails. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. If you do not receive it, please let us know by writing to the same e-mail address.
Lead applicants will be shortlisted and contacted to submit a full project. Following this pre-selection process, the project leaders concerned may express a need for assistance in drafting a complete project, which may be provided by the L’Initiative team and its partners. L’Initiative’s steering committee will make a discretionary selection of the complete projects funded at the end of this phase.
You can ask your questions directly to the four mail adresses mentioned above, our answers will be consolidated into a document and published on this page as they are processed.
Online information sessions
Two information sessions were organized (each of them simultaneously translated in French and in English) to help applicants submit their proposals.
The replay, Q&A and presentation document are available.
L’Accélérateur, to respond to neglected challenges
L’Accélérateur is a complementary modality to L’Initiative’s other forms of support, based on themes prioritized and adopted by the Steering Committee. For this prioritization, L’Initiative identifies neglected challenges and opportunities for action based on data (monitoring-evaluation, accountability and learning from L’Initiative and published scientific data) and on the expression of needs by beneficiaries and partners. L’Accélérateur’s priorities for 2024-2025 include human resources for health, child health and the fight against malaria in all its aspects (surveillance, prevention/vector control, screening, treatment, etc.).
As part of L’Accélérateur’s investment prioritization, L’Initiative’s steering committee has decided to invest more in the fight against malaria, and more specifically in strengthening community health approaches. This call for expressions of interest complements the investments made since 2012 by L’Initiative (Canal Expertises, Canal Projets and L’Accélérateur).