Our Research Agenda
Research is a crucial step towards achieving lasting health change in Africa, and is a key component of Amref Health Africa's mission.
The overall purpose of research at Amref Health Africa is to generate evidence in order to transform policies and practices in health development.
We aim to contribute to regional, national and sub-national health policies as well as to share our research so that it can be more widely used across the NGO sector including by partners, donors and researchers.
At Amref Health Africa, our specific aim is to embed research within our programmes to (1) identify priority areas for programming and (2) provide evidence-based solutions to challenges facing the communities we serve. Our findings can then be used to guide resource mobilisation towards programmes with priority needs as well as inform their design and development. To achieve this, research is being conducted in our 8 country offices across the continent as well as Amref International University, which was established in 2017 to focus on training and research in the health sciences.
Our research is aligned to our five programming areas: (1) Disease, Control and Prevention; (2) Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health; (3) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Tropical Diseases; (4) Human Resources for Health; and (5) Health Financing.
How Amref UK supports this goal
At Amref UK, we are supporting this wider vision by incorporating research studies into our programmes to inform decision-making for future work, as well as mobilising resources to support Amref's overall research mission. We also intend to use evidence within the UK to demonstrate the impact of our work and provide thought-leadership on health development in Africa.
Our UK research areas of focus are Human Resources for Health, FGM/C, and Mental Health, as well as the cross-cutting themes of gender-based violence and gender equality.
Pictured: Esther, a lab technician at work in Makueni County, Kenya (c) Joost Bastmeijer, 2020
Recommended reading
Explore some of our most recent publications:
- Ethiopia (2021): The Effect of Women’s Empowerment in the Utilization of Family Planning in Western Ethiopia: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach
- Kenya (2021): Impact of the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on HIV/AIDS Programming in Kenya: Evidence from Kibera Informal Settlement and COVID-19 Hotspot Counties
- Kenya (2021): Intersections between climate change and female genital mutilation, or cutting (FGM/C) among the Maasai of Kajiado County, Kenya
- Kenya (2021): Reducing unmet need for contraceptive services among youth in Homabay and Narok counties, Kenya: the role of community health volunteers – a qualitative study
- Senegal (2021): Reducing COVID-19 mortality in Senegal through community case management
- South Sudan (2021): “Slash and Clear”, a Community-Based Vector Control Method to Reduce Onchocerciasis Transmission by Simulium sirbanum in Maridi, South Sudan: A Prospective Study
Get in touch!
We want to develop partnerships with academic organisations and research networks interested in partnering with us for research studies and with whom we can share learning and technical expertise. We are also keen to hear from other NGOs with an interest in health research for shared learning and possible collaboration.