Deadline: 15-Jun-23

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) and the Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities (GNYPWD), seeks innovative solutions to address the pressing challenges.

They invite proposals for an Innovation Challenge that specifically focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and young persons with disabilities. The challenge aims to enhance the capacity of young persons with disabilities, improve availability and accessibility of innovations tailored to their unique needs, and facilitate their access to financial resources and participation in decision-making processes related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information, commodities, services, and essential gender-based violence (GBV) support.

To accomplish these goals, the Innovation Challenge will select as the winners the most promising teams and organizations led by young innovators with disabilities among those that applied.

Benefit

• The winners will be awarded with a blend of monetary and capacity building support and potential opportunities to pilot their technology with UNFPA country offices. By availing these resources, these teams and organizations will be empowered to develop and scale innovative solutions that disrupt inequalities and foster the empowerment of women and girls, encompassing the diverse range of their experiences and identities.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Innovation challenge is open to organizations (a legal non-profit or for-profit entity) and project teams affiliated to an organization. The project team and preferably the organization must have young person(s) with disabilities in the team, with a preference given to projects led by a team with young women with disabilities.
• Innovative Solution: The proposed innovation should be contributing to one of the following challenges: ending unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal deaths, or ending gender-based violence and harmful practices.
• Maturity of the Innovative Solution: The organization must have already tested a prototype, and validated proof of concept. Minimum viable product (MVP) is preferred, but not required. The MVP must belong to the submitting organization, if available.
• Funds can only be dispersed to legal entities in a UNFPA program country. Therefore, the team must demonstrate their affiliation with a legal entity (non-profit or for-profit) in a UNFPA program country at the time of the application, including the formal agreement that this legal entity will administer funds for the team. Kindly note that the organizers of the Innovation Challenge are not responsible for the arrangement between the legal entity and the applying team. This legal entity will administer funds for the team.
• Only one submission per applying organization is permitted. All submissions must be made in the English language only.

For more information, visit GNYPWD.