ESTHER Ireland is a joint HSE-Irish Aid health development cooperation initiative and a part of the ESTHER Alliance for Global Health Partnerships (EA). ESTHER Ireland and its Secretariat is hosted by the Irish Global Health Network. Since May 2018, responsibility and governance for the ESTHER Ireland programme sits within the HSE Global Health Programme.
ESTHER Ireland is a joint HSE-Irish Aid health development cooperation initiative and a part of the ESTHER Alliance for Global Health Partnerships (EA). ESTHER Ireland and its Secretariat is hosted by the Irish Global Health Network. Since May 2018, responsibility and governance for the ESTHER Ireland programme sits within the HSE Global Health Programme.VISIT THE WEBSITE
ESTHER Ireland works closely with its European Partners and collaborates with WHO and the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET) in the UK. As well as making a contribution to the health outcomes in developing countries, these partnerships have also been shown to have advantages and benefits for developed countries.
Since 2014, with funding from Irish Aid, ESTHER Ireland has awarded €202k in small grants to 27 institutions to develop new partnerships or strengthen existing ones.
Scope of the Health Partnership Scheme:
The grant is administered by the Irish Global Health Network under a service level agreement with the HSE.
There are two streams of funding available:
Band 1: Innovation grants
Applications are invited for established health partnerships that fall within any or all of the following categories:
- Implement small scale innovations or pilot projects
- Undertake activities that strengthen the working relationship between the partners (eg exchange visits, stakeholder meetings, communication systems)
- Build capacity within the existing partnership to enable it to initiate and implement projects and programmes (eg skills building workshops)
Band 2: Developmental Grants
Irish health organisations and institutions are eligible to apply for a grant to facilitate the development of an institutional partnership with an institution in a low-or middle- income country, to strengthen an existing partnership or to explore development of a new or emerging partnership. Grants must be spent within 12 months of disbursement. Intended outcomes from activities implemented under this scheme could include formalising an agreement such as an MOU between partners or developing a shared vision and action plan.
Application forms and criteria can be found on the ESTHER Ireland website on www.esther.ie
All applications and queries should be sent to the ESTHER Ireland secretariat 
at [email protected]
