RFAs: Case Studies of Big Catch-Up Immunization Activities

Deadline: 4 March 2025

The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research is inviting proposals to conduct country case studies of Big Catch-up immunization activities in selected low- and middle-income countries over an eight-month period.

Objectives

The principal objectives of this work programme are to understand:
- How BCU activities are/were planned, implemented and monitored to identify and vaccinate children who missed one or more doses of nationally recommended vaccines;
- How catch-up activities can be established and institutionalized into routine immunization and PHC services;
- What are the factors contributing to the continued existence of individuals not reached by immunization services.

Funding Information

The maximum funding for a given proposal will be US$ 80 000 for a single case study or US$ 150000 for two subnational case studies for an eight-month period between April 2025 and November 2025.

Expected Outputs

In terms of outputs, teams supported by this programme are expected to generate a detailed report of their findings and at least one technical brief, which can take the form of a summary, research or policy brief.
Teams are also expected to provide access to primary data collected through this study to the Alliance and IVB for quality assurance purposes.
Teams are encouraged but not required to pursue scientific publications focused on their findings or in a synthesized fashion in collaboration with other case study countries.

Eligibility Criteria

Research teams are invited to submit an application to pursue this programme of work. In countries with a subnational focus (i.e., Nigeria and Pakistan), applicants must apply for both subnational case study areas which would ensure their ability to draw out comparisons across the regions in the same country.
Organizations may apply to conduct this work in more than one eligible country. However, in the case of multiple applications, organizations must submit separate applications for each eligible country.
To be eligible for funding the:
- The principal investigator must be based in a local institution with relevant research expertise, including domestic research institutions (i.e., university departments, research centres or think tanks) and nongovernmental organizations. Only institutions that are locally-based in one of the countries included in this call are eligible to apply. These countries are Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan, United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen.
- 50% of the core research team must comprise female researchers.
- Team must have documented experience with case study methodology, including but not limited to document review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, meeting observations, questionnaires as well as triangulation and synthesis of data from multiple sources.
- Teams must identify at least two levels of the health system to be included in the case study (e.g., national, subnational, provider, community, caregiver).
- Research teams applying for subnational case studies should plan to pursue both case studies simultaneously.
To be competitive for this award, the following criteria apply:
- Documented experience in conducting health policy and systems research, especially in the field of vaccines, and demonstrated capacities in multistake holder engagement;
- Documented familiarity and experience with immunization service delivery in the geographic areas included in the proposal;
- A clear plan to conduct data collection (including securing ethical clearance and other necessary approvals), analysis and synthesis as well as engage with relevant stakeholders;
- Detailed consideration of available BCU MEL guidance, including which specific sub-questions will be pursued and description of which levels of the health system will be incorporated into the case study design;
- The quality of research in terms of the appropriate use of methods and data sources, the qualifications and experience of the research team and the feasibility of the proposed research over an eight-month duration;
- For subnational case studies, the capacity of the research team to conduct multiple, concurrent case studies and carry out synthesized triangulation of results;
- Value for money