Integrated Health Initiative (IHI) Activity | 72030625RFA00001

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72030625RFA00001

The Integrated Health Initiative (IHI) Activity is a USAID health funding opportunity designed to improve both access to health services and the quality of care in Afghanistan, with a strong emphasis on women and children. The core idea is twofold: first, to expand equitable access so that more people can actually reach and afford essential services, and second, to improve the standard of care and encourage healthier day-to-day behaviors in communities. The activity targets several priority health areas that are major drivers of illness and preventable death in Afghanistan, including maternal and newborn health, family planning and reproductive health, child health, nutrition, tuberculosis, and mental health. It is also explicitly framed as a continuation and scale-up of earlier USAID investments, building on lessons and systems strengthened under AFIAT, the Urban Health Initiative, and the Local Health System Sustainability activities.

Geographically, IHI concentrates on five high-density provinces: Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Herat, and Balkh. Together these provinces account for about 12.2 million people, roughly one quarter of Afghanistan's total population, so the activity is focusing on areas where improvements can reach a large number of people relatively quickly. These provinces were selected because they combine high disease burden with persistent barriers to care, including long travel distances to facilities, high out-of-pocket costs, low awareness of available services, and a shortage of female health care providers, which is especially limiting for women seeking care. The opportunity also notes additional pressure on services in Kandahar, Herat, and Nangarhar due to large numbers of returnees coming back from neighboring countries, many of whom settle in urban areas for extended periods before moving on, increasing demand on health and related social services.

In terms of who benefits, the activity prioritizes the most vulnerable populations within these provinces, particularly women, children, and marginalized groups who tend to face the steepest barriers to receiving timely and respectful care. Health workers at all levels are also treated as a key beneficiary group because strengthening their capacity, working conditions, and ability to deliver quality services directly affects health outcomes. The design also includes engagement with men, recognizing that men often influence household decisions about seeking health care, spending on treatment, and whether women and children can access services, so behavior change and demand for care are not treated as womens issues alone.

Operationally, IHI is meant to support a wide range of service delivery points rather than focusing only on one tier of the system. That includes specialty hospitals as well as regional and district hospitals, comprehensive and basic health centers, health posts, and private health facilities. The private sector is highlighted as essential to achieving the access and quality goals, largely because private clinics and hospitals already serve a significant share of the population in the target provinces. USAID points to several ways private sector engagement can expand impact, such as improving service quality, increasing demand for health commodities and services through social marketing approaches, and leveraging private for-profit models that sometimes offer subsidized schemes for low-income patients to reduce cost barriers.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary USAID opportunity issued by USAID Afghanistan (Kabul) as a Cooperative Agreement, which typically implies substantial involvement by the agency in shaping implementation compared to a standard grant. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, and USAID anticipates making one award. The opportunity has an award ceiling of $92,500,000, with an original closing date of January 24, 2025. The official funding opportunity title is Integrated Health Initiative (IHI) Activity, and the funding opportunity number is 72030625RFA00001 (CFDA 98.001). For the full technical requirements and expected results, the notice directs applicants to Section C, Program Description.

• The Afghanistan USAID-Kabul in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Integrated Health Initiative (IHI) Activity" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $92,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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