© 2021 ORCD Small Grants Program Strengthening the capacity for locally led research can be a sustainable means to building the evidence base of best practices in health and improving health outcomes. Small grants are one mechanism for promoting research capacity. In line with USAID’s local capacity strengthening principles, small grants can support an effective country-led platform by giving local research groups in low- and middle-income countries the needed technical and financial support to investigate local information needs. Building on the experiences and lessons learned from the small grants programs under the MEASURE Evaluation Population and Reproductive Health (PRH) Associate Award, MEASURE Evaluation – Tanzania Associate Award, and MEASURE Evaluation Phase IV, D4I strengthened local research capacity and addressed knowledge gaps in family planning through its small grants program. D4I funded four small grants and provided ongoing one-on-one technical assistance to the sub-grantee teams. Results from these studies from around the world were disseminated directly to stakeholders where the research can inform and influence policies and programs. Isha Karmacharya and Santosh Khadka led a research team at the Central Institute of Science and Technology (CiST) College in Kathmandu, Nepal, to appraise family planning commodities management and service delivery due to the COVID-19 crisis in Gandaki Province during lockdown. Read more. With Mosiur Rahman as principal investigator, the Department of Population Science and Human Resource Development at the University of Rajshahi in Bangladesh assessed the readiness of health facilities for family planning services in low-resource settings by capturing insights from nationally representative Service Provision Assessment Surveys in 10 countries around the world. Read more. Led by Chinyere Mbachu, the Health Policy Research Group (HPRG) based at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria in Enugu, identified innovative approaches to increase domestic resource mobilization and financing contributions to family planning service delivery and contraceptive supplies in Nigeria. Read more. Manizha Faqir led a research team from the Organization for Research and Community Development (ORCD) to analyze the 2018 Afghanistan Household Survey to understand regional variations in family planning use. Read more. Featured Resources Blog Posts Going Local: Strengthening Local Capacity in General Local Data to Solve Local FP/RH Development Challenges Knowledge SUCCESS highlighted the Small Grants Program with a four-part blog series featuring the tacit lessons and experiences of family planning and reproductive health research conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Nigeria. Afghanistan Bangladesh Nepal Nigeria Related Resources For more resources, click here
