The East and Southern Africa hub for Advancing Research for Climate and Health (ESA ARCH) is led by Amref Health Africa in Kenya, working with KPMG Advisory Services Limited, the University of Botswana, and the Africa International University (AIU). The hub is dedicated to strengthening the resilience of health systems to climate change in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Background and Context
Africa is facing a severe climate crisis, marked by extreme weather events that result in significant loss of life and community devastation. This includes severe droughts and famine in East and Southern Africa, as well as deadly storms in Madagascar, Mozambique, and Kenya. The crisis poses serious public health threats, including increased morbidity and mortality from both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Vulnerable populations like pregnant women, children, and the elderly are particularly at risk, facing psychological trauma and deepening gender inequalities. Climate change also disrupts healthcare, leading to inadequate support for mothers and newborns and contributing to a rise in gender-based violence during crises. Additionally, healthcare systems are struggling to address these emerging climate-related health challenges.
The response across the continent has been inadequate due to a lack of research, limited policies, and insufficient funding, creating significant gaps in addressing harm. There’s an urgent need for robust, transdisciplinary research grounded in justice and gender-based rights. We require targeted, disaggregated data to develop effective interventions for at-risk populations in East and Southern Africa, enhancing their resilience. The current research environment is fragmented, with minimal collaboration, slow data sharing with policymakers, and a shortage of mentorship for emerging researchers.
To overcome these barriers, the Eastern and South African Regional Hub for Research and Policy on Climate Change and Health has been established. It forms part of the five regional hubs of the Advancing Research for Climate and Health (ARCH) initiative, a five-year partnership between the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and IDRC to address critical knowledge gaps at the intersection of climate change and health. This hub serves as a beacon for transformative research and action on climate change and health. By fostering collaboration, streamlining data sharing, and establishing robust mentorship programs, the Hub provides a platform towards improving public health outcomes and building a more resilient and just future for African communities.
Expected Profiles of the Eligible Entities
This Call for Proposals (CfP) welcomes applications from research entities and multi-stakeholder consortia positioned to contribute high-quality, impactful research on the climate-health nexus within Eastern and Southern Africa region. Applicants must be based in or have active collaborations within the countries indicated under the eligible countries above.
Eligible entities include:
- Research Institutions and universities actively conducting climate-health related research.
- Multi-stakeholder research teams from research entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations and private sector partners.
- Regional networks and coalitions working on climate change and health
- Multi-country applications are allowed but the research team must ensure the scope is clear and adequately budgeted.
This initiative will not fund individuals. It focuses on supporting research teams and established institutions to ensure the sustainability, knowledge translation and use for climate climate-resilient health system. As such, this CfP seeks to leverage the resources of these institutions for impact. The research teams should demonstrate diverse expertise and gender balance, comprising senior and upcoming researchers to foster capacity strengthening and knowledge exchange.
To ensure principles of excellence, equity, contextual relevance and capacity strengthening tailored to the call’s thematic focus and regional scope, applicants are required to demonstrate the following capacities and attributes:
The applicants should demonstrate the following;
- The Lead organization (where the principal Investigator is aligned with) should demonstrate Compliance with the legal requirements of registration in the Country of operation.
- Entities should show evidence of strong organizational management, governance, and oversight structures.
- Demonstrated track record leading and supporting high-quality research through a strong publication record.
- Demonstrated knowledge of regional priorities in Climate and Health is a must.
- Proven track record of leading and supporting high-quality research reflected by peer-reviewed publications and demonstrated expertise in climate and health research.
- Proven high capacity to support networks or partners, including demonstrated experience fostering knowledge exchange and learning opportunities, both virtually and in person.
- Demonstrated experience through a record of publications in conducting gender analysis and ensuring the integration of gender, equity, and inclusion considerations in all project activities.
- Demonstrate how gender equality and inclusion will be promoted and adopted both in team composition and the design and implementation of the proposed research.
- Proven administrative capacities, including demonstrated expertise in managing research projects.
In addition, applicants must commit to:
- Engage stakeholders and decision-makers throughout the project.
- Share data and results in accordance with data and knowledge-sharing policies
- Adhere to IDRC and UK FCDO principles, including safeguarding, ethics, and value for money.
- Partnerships with regional and international collaborators are encouraged, but the lead applicant’s primary affiliation must be in an eligible African institution headquartered in the countries listed in Section 3.0 above.
Responses are invited from Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Applicants are encouraged to work across borders and incorporate comparative, multi-country components wherever feasible.
How to apply
For the full details, please click here. The proposals should be emailed to: Climate.Research@Amref.org with the subject line: EOI NO. AMREF/19/09/2025/020 by 15th October 2025.
Amref Health Africa reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without giving reasons and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder.