SciDev.Net

Promoting cooperation between complementary research areas
This call for proposals is the first one entirely dedicated research initiative for Africa under the EU's Framework Programme for research (FP7). It brings together several funding Themes under FP7: Health (€39 million), Environment (€17.5 million) and Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology (€6.5 million). The projects selected will involve these various scientific and technological research fields and will also take into account broader socio-economic factors such as migration and resettlement, urbanisation, health care systems, variation of food and energy prices, etc.

Two major issues: "Water and Food Security" and "Better Health for Africa"
The "Africa Call" is structured around two major issues:

• "Water and Food Security". The projects selected will strive to ensure both safe drinking water and good sanitation and hygiene. They will aim to revitalise agriculture, promote more sustainable production systems and ensure food security. They will also address Africa's vulnerability to the expected climate change impacts by setting up early warning and forecasting systems to address risks such as droughts or vector-borne diseases.
• "Better Health for Africa". The projects selected will focus on reducing the malaria disease burden, improving early diagnosis and treatment of the most frequent infection-related cancers, improving maternal and newborn health, assessing migrant health and addressing the shortage of healthcare personnel.

Collaborative research and capacity-building
All projects will involve local stakeholders. Depending on the project, at least 2 or 3 partners must be established in an African country. The projects selected will foster capacity-building through the promotion of academic research and training, the setting up of networks, and the building of sustainable capacity for research for health.

An information Day on 18 September 2009
EU Commissioner Potočnik and a representative from the African Union will open the Information Day on the "Africa call". Ongoing activities in support of Africa and future prospects in the field of research within the EU-African Strategic Partnership will be presented.

Background
The European Commission (EC) and the African Union Commission (AUC) representing 53 African States agreed on an EU / Africa Strategic Partnership during the EU/AU Summit in Lisbon in December 2007. 8 thematic partnerships were identified, the 8th of these being the partnership for Science, Information Society, and Space. In the framework of this 8th Partnership, 19 priority "lighthouse" project areas have already been identified and developed by the African Union. This call covers some of the early deliverables amongst those project areas. The partnership is not only between two Commissions, but also with the 27 and 53 Member States on the two continents, and it is intended to provide a framework for co-ordinated support and delivery of research.

Find out more about:
- the Africa call :
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP7DetailsCallPage&call_id=268
- the Information Day :
http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/rtd/rtdafr2010call/library
- the EU-Africa Partnership :
http://africa-eu-partnership.org/au-eu/pages/templates/home.jsp?subkey=1&locale=en
Previous IP/08/1442 and MEMO/08/602 on Implementation of the EU-AU Partnership for Science, Information Society and Space