Health Services Academy, in collaboration with and support from WHO (HSR, and CAH) launched a call for proposals for implementation research to scale up maternal and child health interventions to achieve MDGs 4 and 5.  Thematic areas/research questions were identified following a two day consultative meeting hosted by HSA. Health Services Academy and WHO then launched a joint Call for Letters of Intent in May’2011. In response to the Call a number of LOIs were received. Altogether seven LOI’s were short listed following an intensive review process. Selected teams were invited to attend a five-day proposal development workshop, from 10th-14th November 2011, at HSA to discuss their research and implementation plan with a team of national and international facilitators and to develop a full proposal by the end of the workshop.