Deadline: 30-Mar-23
The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International is now accepting concept papers for the Innovation in Market based Sanitation and Menstrual Health Management Activity under the USAID Western Kenya Sanitation Project.
USAID Western Kenya Sanitation Project (USAID-WKSP) is five-year (2022 to 2027) program with a goal to create a financially sustainable, transformative, replicable, and locally owned sanitation and Menstrual Hygiene Management marketplace in eight western Kenya counties: Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Siaya, Homa Bay, Kisii, Kisumu, and Migori through:
- Increased access to and uptake of market-based improved sanitation and fecal sludge management products and services.
- Increased access to and uptake of market based improved Menstrual Hygiene (MHM) products and services at the household level.
What is the challenge?
- The full range of technical options for providing improved and safely managed sanitation and MHM products and services is still not widely known nor are the characteristics of the different options well understood. There is little appreciation of the long-term financial, environmental, and institutional implications of operating and maintaining the various MHM and sanitation systems.
- As a result, with the growing population, communities and institutions are choosing the only available technical options that, in the long term, are inaccessible, unaffordable, unsustainable, and not environmentally friendly. Access to finance has also been a challenge for sanitation and MHM enterprises and households.
Award Details
- The successful applicant(s) will be eligible for support by the project to pilot/scale the innovation.
What are they looking for?
- This Hackathon is aimed at identifying technology-based solutions and designs to provide a space for creative problem solving of sanitation and/or MHM challenges, and through grant funding, support local innovative concepts and ideas through the rapid building and testing a range of low-cost solutions and prototypes.
- The developed solutions will increase the uptake of sanitation and MHM products in the market. Challenges also arise from the limited options available and the differing environments and conditions to which each is suited. The Hackathon will not only be based on the technical aspects of the technologies, but also on such factors as type of settlements and ownership, financial costs and affordability, design life, scalability, expectations and preferences, institutional capacity, the potential for job creation, and environmental considerations.
- The solution(s) should possess the characteristic of sustainable market-based approaches (MBS) to sanitation and/or MHM challenges addressing affordability, operation and maintenance, and institutional responsibilities.
Eligibility Criteria
- They welcome applications from diverse range of applicants. You can apply as an entity / institution or as part of a group / consortium and this includes:
- Research institutions
- Learning institutions
- Non-governmental Organizations
- Designers, manufacturers, technology firms, social enterprises, entrepreneur and service providers.
- Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institutions
- N/B Institutions led by Youth and women are encouraged to apply.
Tips for Success
In response to the call applications should:
- Adhere to USAID-WKSP’s core values regarding feasibility, scalability, accessibility, and cost effectiveness.
- Provide inclusive solutions (leaving no one behind) for women, aged, children, Persons with Disabilities, etc.
- Be implementable within the 8 counties covered by USAID-WKSP and within the project’s 5-year period.
- Be original, creative, sustainable, and commercially viable.
- Be complementary to existing products and services.
For more information, visit Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International.