RFAs: Advancing Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Research

Deadline Date: February 21, 2025

Donor Name: World Health Organization (WHO)

Grant Size: $1000 to $10,000

https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/request-for-concept-notes-to-advance-adolescent-sexual-and-reproductive-health-research

The World Health Organization (WHO) is accepting applications to advance adolescent sexual and reproductive health research.

Priorities

• Sexual and reproductive health research priorities for young adolescents 2025-2035
  • How does the use of social media affect young adolescents’ SRHR – both positively and negatively? 
  • What are the mental health challenges faced by young adolescents and how do these affect their SRHR? 
  • How do the SRHR needs of young adolescents vary by subpopulations (e.g., different genders, displaced populations, ethnic minorities, people living with disabilities, or other marginalized populations)? 
  • How can implementation of comprehensive sexuality education be strengthened among young adolescents? 
  • What are the most critical modifiable factors that should be addressed to promote SRHR of young adolescents (including addressing early pregnancy, child marriage and gender-based violence)? 
  • How can interventions/services be developed and delivered that meet the specific health needs of adolescents, taking into account age, developmental needs and the involvement of caregivers where appropriate? 
  • Where do young adolescents seek information on SRHR (e.g., peers, school, teachers, caregivers, digital technologies)? 
  • How can young adolescents be meaningfully engaged in the co-design of programmes and services that meet their needs? 
  • What do young adolescents consider as positive aspects of SRHR in their lives? 
  • How can access to training and resources for health care and educational providers be improved to inform high quality implementation of services for young adolescents?

Purpose of the Request for Concept Notes

• The present request for concept notes is intended to advance the above priorities through research. Research can include: developing and testing a new intervention or replicating an existing intervention that has been shown to be effective in a new context (simply replicating an intervention is not in itself research). Both experimental designs and implementation research will be considered. Research can be descriptive such as undertaking a survey on knowledge, attitudes and perspectives of adolescents toward a specific issue or analyzing demographic data to answer specific questions or it can study how laws and/or policies impact populations of young people. Systematic and other types of literature reviews will not qualify in this RFP.

Funding Information

• If the study is selected through this RFP, US$2500 will be provided to the lead applicant.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Any individual or team member from the following is eligible to apply:
  • World Bank designated low- or middle-income country 
  • Academic institutions/universities
  • Civil society or non-governmental organizations
  • Youth organizations.
• There is no restriction as to settings for the research. For example, any of the following are all potential settings: clinics, schools, community organizations, sports and recreational settings, religious institutions and prisons (these are only examples). The settings for the study should be determined by the research question(s).  

For more information, visit WHO.