Second round of selection underway for new grant on climate change in Africa
More than 70 applications representing 24 countries throughout the African continent were received at TDR for the new grant on climate change in Africa. Ten teams have been selected to participate in a proposal development workshop, to be held in Accra, Ghana, from 5-7 November 2012. From this, up to 8 teams will be identified and funded for 3 years.
The research is designed to understand the impact of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa on people’s vulnerability to diseases carried by mosquitoes, flies and snails, such as malaria, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. With support from the International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada, $6.8 million will be spent to identify those who are the most vulnerable to social, environmental and climate change, and to develop tools and strategies for adaptation to climate change in Africa.
Environmental changes are becoming increasingly important. In the 2008 Libreville Declaration, African ministries of health called on the World Health Organization to facilitate research into the environmental determinants of disease. This programme will respond to that declaration by addressing some of these research gaps and offering long-term solutions.
An international expert committee, external to TDR and IDRC and composed of scholars with various disciplinary backgrounds relevant to the research initiative, undertook the difficult task to review and score all qualifying letters of interest by scientific merit and relevance to the call. The finalists will be notified in early 2013.
For more information, please contact:
Dr Yeya Touré
Telephone: +41 791 3884
E-mail: tourey@who.int