UNDP: Innovation Challenge in Response to COVID-19 (Gabon)

Deadline: 21-Apr-22

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is pleased to announce Innovation challenge in Response to COVID-19 that aims to promote the role of women and young people as bearers of innovative ideas and solutions in the field of access to renewable energy and the development of alternative products through the recovery of waste.

An innovation challenge is a competition for ideas and/or innovative solutions, aimed at women and young people, which aims to respond to specific development challenges, which ‘traditional’ solutions and tools cannot meet.

Purpose

The proposed initiatives must imperatively pursue the following objectives:

• Theme 1. Renewable energy generation is facilitated through the reuse of forest and agricultural waste to promote the circular economy and support its use in targeted value chains.
  • Objective 1: Producing energy from Biogas
    • Your submission should indicate:
      • The substrate(s) used
      • The number of cubic meters of biogas to reach 50 kwh of electricity
      • The cost of the biogas unit
      • The amount of compost/fertilizer produced by the digestate)
  • Goal 2: Produce Biochar
    • Your submission should indicate:
      • The effects of your biochar on the physiochemical properties of the soil
      • The technical process of producing biochar
      • Unit cost and go-to-market strategy
      • How to deploy this solution to 200 microenterprises in the Estuary and Ogooué-Maritime.
• Theme 2. Green value chains are supported to boost agricultural production and reduce dependence on food imports 
  • Objective 3: Improve new products or improve existing ones.
    • Your submission should indicate:
      • The innovation/solution and its adaptation to market needs
      • Deployment costs

Funding Information

• The financial support proposed by UNDP under this call for proposals must not exceed 40,000 USD (about 23,500,000 FCFA ).
• The duration of UNDP support is 8 months.

Eligibility Criteria

Entrepreneurs with a project must meet the following conditions to be eligible for financial support:

• Be 18 or older;
• hold a company ( start-up, operators, micro-enterprises , GIE) a cooperative and/or formal or informal NGO
• Be completely independent of political parties/movements (the entrepreneur and his company);
• Cannot participate in the challenge, project leaders who, at the time of their application and during its evaluation:
• As part of a contract with the UNDP or another UN organization, have been declared in serious breach of performance due to non-compliance with their contractual obligations;
• Are in a situation of conflict of interest;
• Made false declarations when submitting their initiative to the challenge or failed to provide the required information to UNDP;
• Who are in a state or who are the subject of a procedure of bankruptcy, liquidation, judicial settlement or preventive composition, cessation of activity, or who are in a similar situation resulting from a procedure of the same nature existing in national laws and regulations;
• If an individual wins one of the Innovation challenge prizes, he/ she will be considered to have the legal status of an independent contractor with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Innovator’s personnel and contractors shall in no way be deemed to be employees or agents of UNDP or the United Nations.

For more information, visit https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=89959