For Applicants | Focus Areas | Multiple Countries / Family Planning and Reproductive Health Applicant Resources Apply Application Process Eligibility Focus Areas Find a USG-Supported Partner Frequently Asked Questions Eligible Countries: ASIA Afghanistan Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Philippines SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Benin Ethiopia Ghana Guinea Kenya Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mozambique Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Tanzania Uganda Zambia  LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Haiti Additional Criteria for Applicants: Please see Section V of the Solicitation for General Eligibility requirements. PEER does not support clinical trials research. All projects that interact with patients, human subjects data, or other personally identifiable information will be required to go through a protocol review coordinated by the National Academies and to obtain and maintain a Federal Wide Assurance of their institution’s Internal Review Board. This process typically takes three months from the announcement of the PEER award. The time needed to obtain IRB compliance and successfully implement the PEER Project should be calculated in the budget and timeline of activities. U.S. Partner Eligibility: In addition to the standard eligibility requirements of U.S. Government-Supported Partner described in Section V of the Solicitation for General Eligibility requirements, applicants are also encouraged to partner with U.S. university recipients (including prime awardees and sub-awardees) of USAID family planning and reproductive health funding. More information about current USAID funded programs and partners can be found in the User's Guide to USAID/Washington Health Programs (pgs. 133-163). Objectives: Under the PEER Family Planning focus area, the PEER program will award funds to a limited number of highly competitive, novel research projects from PIs in PEER-eligible countries that help increase demand and access to high-quality voluntary family planning services, information, and reproductive health care. More specifically, PEER is seeking to support family planning implementation research that develops and tests proven interventions leading to sustainable family planning services AND behavior change research that leads to an increased understanding and use of family planning services in priority communities, such as youth and low income populations. Where applicable, research should include and address the roles of men and boys in access to and use of family planning services. More information about USAID’s Family Planning and Reproductive Health programming can be found at: https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/global-health/family-planning. Implementation research areas may include, but are not limited to: Uptake and scale up of proven family planning interventions Activities that foster expansion and institutionalization of family planning interventions and services Methods or innovations that increase access to and use of family planning services by youth and integrate family planning services into youth development activities Interventions that promote integration of family planning services with HIV/AIDS and STI services and into routine health care in rural and poor communities Innovations in engaging the private sector in the provision of family planning services; and the development of sustainable financing mechanisms that support equitable access to family planning services Behavior change research areas may include, but are not limited to: Understanding and mitigating social norms that negatively impact uptake and access to and use of family planning services Identifying and addressing barriers that underlie non-use of contraception and family planning services among women Consistent with the goals of PEER, applicants should outline how their research findings will lead to development-related policy or programmatic change. All projects must also contribute to USAID higher education objectives by strengthening engagement with junior researchers and undergraduate/graduate students. Proposals that include multi-disciplinary research teams, multi-country collaboration, and/or engagement with policy actors and other development stakeholders are desired but not required. Country specific USAID health objectives are articulated in USAID Regional and Country Development Cooperation Strategies (RCDS and CDCS). Applicants should closely read the appropriate RDCS and/or CDCS, and USAID Mission website in the country or countries where the PEER project will take place before submitting a proposal. Proposed research projects must also adhere to requirements of the USAID Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy. (Note: the text describing this focus area was revised on October 13, 2017, to add the section on U.S. Partner Eligibility and provide the reference to the USAID Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy.)