CALL FOR PROPOSALS • 2026

ACORCA-COARCA Rapid Research-to-Action (R2A) Grants Programme

Generating Actionable Evidence for Safe Abortion Policy, Practice and Advocacy in Africa

Grant Size Up to $40,000 Per research grant

Duration Up to 12 Mo. Programme timeframe

Eligibility Africa-Based ACORCA member orgs

Apply Online (Google Form) Proposal Guidelines

Official Call for Proposals

R2A Grants Programme 2026

Generating Actionable Evidence for Safe Abortion Policy, Practice and Advocacy in Africa

APPLICATION DEADLINE FIRM DATE

October 15, 2026

23:59 GMT • Online Submission Portal

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Apply Online via Google Form

No registration fee • Direct online submission

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Brief Background on the Grant

The ACORCA-COARCA Rapid Research-to-Action (R2A) Grants Programme is designed to support African researchers and organisations to generate high-quality, locally relevant evidence on abortion. The programme bridges the gap between research prioritisation, evidence generation and action by supporting studies that respond to nationally identified research priorities. It promotes research that can inform policy, programmes, advocacy and practice while strengthening African research capacity.

GRANT SIZE	Up to $40,000 per research grant
GRANT DURATION	Up to 12 months

Research-to-Action Requirement

Each project must include a Research User Engagement and Knowledge Translation Plan showing how key stakeholders will be involved in the research, and how they will access and use the findings. Minimum activities should include research-user involvement in study design and implementation, continuous stakeholder communication, written and digital dissemination products, scientific manuscript, media engagement, and dissemination webinar or stakeholder dialogue.

What Makes a Strong Proposal?

● Responsive to evidence priorities identified by local stakeholders

● Policy relevant

● Implementation focused

● Locally grounded

● Clear research questions and robust methodology

● Feasible within twelve months

PRIORITY RESEARCH TYPES

What Research Will Be Supported?

Projects should align with one or more of the following priority research areas:

01 Priority 1

1. Access, Equity and Enabling Environments

Research addressing access barriers, abortion stigma, abortion legalisation, and community and provider perspectives shaping equitable access to abortion care.

02 Priority 2

2. Abortion Care (CAC or PAC) and Quality Improvement

Research on medication abortion, Self-Managed Abortion (SMA), comprehensive abortion care (CAC) and post-abortion care (PAC), including quality of abortion care, task-sharing, provider experiences, models of abortion self-care and digital support, and other service delivery innovations.

03 Priority 3

3. Policy, Health Systems and Financing

Research on health systems and financing relevant to abortion care, including abortion measurement and incidence, referral systems, integration into primary health care, and policy implementation.

04 Priority 4

4. Evidence Translation and Research Uptake

Research on uptake of abortion evidence, communication strategies, advocacy effectiveness, knowledge translation and dissemination, and evaluation of completed or ongoing programmes, interventions or innovations.

METHODOLOGICAL SCOPE

Eligible Study Designs

All designs must align with the programme timeframe, i.e. final reports within 12 months.

Descriptive Studies

Population or community surveys, qualitative research or mixed methods studies.

Participatory Studies

Involving communities or health care providers or other key stakeholders.

Health Services Research

Including primary or secondary data collection among abortion clients and providers.

Secondary Data Analysis

Including of nationally representative surveys or HMIS data.

Programme Evaluations

Including pre-/post-test assessments or comparative case studies.

Knowledge Translation Studies

Studies examining the translation, dissemination, and uptake of evidence into policy and practice.

Evidence Syntheses

Including systematic, narrative, rapid or scoping reviews.

Not Eligible:

Large and multi-country evaluations, longitudinal studies or resource-intensive primary data collection requiring extended timelines.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

Who Can Apply? — Eligibility Criteria

Applying organisations should:

● Be an eligible ACORCA-COARCA member organisation that has completed membership application process and paid the membership subscription fee, based in Africa and working in an area relevant to abortion research, policy, advocacy, programming or practice.
● Have the institutional capacity and/or an appropriate research team to implement the proposed study, manage the grant and deliver the required research outputs.
● Propose research objectives that respond to evidence gaps or national abortion research priorities, identified through a Strategic Research Prioritisation (SRP) exercise conducted in the country by your organisation or another organisation, ACORCA’s SRP exercise, WHO guidelines or similar sources.
● Propose a study that is feasible for completion within the grant period of up to twelve (12) months.
● Demonstrate clear potential for the research to generate actionable evidence relevant to policy, programmes, advocacy, or service delivery.
● Implement a clear plan for engagement, knowledge translation and dissemination with relevant research users and stakeholders.

DELIVERABLES

Expected Outputs

Funded projects commit to delivering the following research and translation outputs:

Output 01

Approved research protocol

Output 02

Ethics approval, where required

Output 03

Clean dataset(s)

Output 04

Final technical report

Output 05

Research presentation

Output 06

Scientific manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal

Output 07

Policy brief

Output 08

Webinar presentation

Output 09

Digital product(s), e.g. infographic, blog, podcast or video

Output 10

Dissemination webinar or stakeholder dialogue

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

How to Apply

Application Deadline: October 15, 2026. Apply using the application link below.

You will need to upload:

Maximum 5-Page Project Proposal (Comprising):

○Study Title
○Applying Organisation
○Study lead(s)
○Background/Rationale (must include country context, problem statement and evidence review)
○Objectives
○Methodology
○Research-to-Action & Knowledge Translation Plan
○Expected Outputs/ Deliverables
○Potential Policy/Programme/Advocacy Impact
○Work Plan and Timeline
○ Your proposal must demonstrate that the study is linked to a research prioritization process.

● Budget

● Letters of Support from Partnering Stakeholders

● Organisational Capacity and Profile Summary of Research team (max 1 page)

● CV of Study Lead/Principal Investigator

APPLY NOW (Google Form)

Deadline: October 15, 2026 (23:59 GMT)

QUESTIONS & ASSISTANCE

For More Enquiries

For technical inquiries regarding research scopes, eligibility, or proposal templates, reach out directly to the ACORCA-COARCA Grant Secretariat:

ACORCA-COARCA Grant Secretariat

Research Grants & Technical Coordination

[email protected]

Email: [email protected]

c/o Health Development Initiative • KK 649 St, No. 34, Kicukiro, Kigali, Rwanda