What are the criteria for making funding decisions?

  • Strength of the existing evidence – the effectiveness of the intervention or approach must be supported by research that demonstrates a beneficial impact of the intervention on gender and health equity outcomes.
  • Relevance to improving gender equity – interventions must address overt or underlying causes of inequity, with an emphasis on improving social and structural determinants of health, as opposed to requiring individual behavior modification in the absence of larger systems changes.
  • Plausibility –  a plausible argument should be made for the impact of the intervention on improved health outcomes. The theory of change or causal mechanism through which the intervention is presumed to work in the home country setting should be clear, along with a strong rationale for how these would operate in a U.S. setting.
  • Actionability –  findings from the proposed research should provide guidance to key end users in the U.S. (policymakers, practitioners, program implementors) and inform public discourse and decision-making using appropriate products (policy briefs, protocols, implementation plans).
  • Rigor of proposed study design – studies must include a clear research question; feasible plan for data collection, analysis, and dissemination; and/or use an appropriate framework that guides implementation or adaptation.
  • Qualifications of research team – project teams should have a track record of successful and productive collaboration, as demonstrated by a history of previous partnership; work and resources should be equitably distributed across collaborating organizations; and teams should include key stakeholders (i.e., practitioners, program implementers, members of impacted communities) to guide the research questions and approach.

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