Deadline: 17 July 2020
The Global Mental Health program is accepting applications for proof-of-concept grants up to $250,000 for innovations that focus on the mental well-being of youth in low- and middle-income countries.
The aim of Grand Challenges Canada’s Global Mental Health Program is to seed and scale up, high impact innovations that support individual mental health needs in low and middle-income countries. With funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) UK aid through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to support global health research – they have relaunched theGlobal Mental Health program to seed innovations to help young people’s mental health.
Focus Areas
The Grand Challenges seeks bold ideas to meet the mental health needs of the most vulnerable young people aged 10 to 24 years. They are specifically looking for innovative approaches to enhance mental health literacy and/or provide youth-friendly services while accounting for the complex social and environmental factors that contribute to young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Approaches should be culturally sensitive and community driven.
Innovations should seek to do one or more of the following:
- support community environments that promote mental wellbeing throughout adolescence
- creatively approach mental health literacy and psychosocial education, working to embed mental health understanding in the broader community
- provide effective and affordable youth-friendly community-based care and rehabilitation
- foster resilience and advance mental disorder prevention and mental health promotion
- integrate mental health services and/or wellbeing interventions into existing education systems
- address the mental health needs of young people exposed to violence, with a trauma informed approach
- inventively leverage technology that is highly used and trusted by young people.
Grand Challenges is particularly interested in innovations that:
- aim to empower and give a voice to young people
- inform local communities
- tackle the outcomes of damaging gender norms
- support delivering mental health care through youth-friendly, non-health delivery mechanisms
- consider the social determinants of health – like violence, marginalization and vulnerability
Target Beneficiaries
Innovations must ultimately benefit the most vulnerable 10 to 24 year olds in the eligible and middle-income countries.
Funding Information
There will be seed grants of up to $250,000 CAD over 18 to 24 months to develop and test innovations. Assuming a sufficient number of strong proposals, around 15 seed grants will be awarded.
Eligibility Criteria
- This is open to any social enterprise and legally recognized institution (e.g. non-profit, for-profit, academic institution) that:
- is formed and legally incorporated
- can successfully perform activities in their technical area
- can receive and administer grants.
- These are ineligible:
- sole proprietorships
- government organizations
- United Nations country offices.
- There can only be one Project Lead for each project and they must be affiliated with the applying organization.
- A Project Lead can only be listed on one application. Single institutions can submit multiple applications but each needs a different Project Lead.
- Priority will go to youth-led organizations. An increased focus on youth-led innovators is planned for round two.
- Proposals should show evidence of meaningful involvement of young people with lived experiences, in the design, testing and evaluation of your innovation.
For more information, visit https://www.grandchallenges.ca/programs/global-mental-health/