Deadline: 25 September 2018
Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, is seeking bold ideas for products, services and implementation models that could transform how persistent challenges in sexual and reproductive health and rights are addressed in low- and middle-income countries.
These bold ideas could originate from non-profit organizations and for-profit organizations, as well as other recognized institutions. Social enterprises are encouraged to apply. Female applicants, feminist organizations, and marginalized groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
Proposed innovations must be bold, innovative, transformational and ‘outside-the-box’, and must have the potential to make a substantial, equitable impact on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The innovations are expected to improve gender equality through enabling comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Of particular interest to Grand Challenges Canada are innovations that both prevent and respond to:
- Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, including innovations that focus on:
- Female genital mutilation and cutting
- Sexual assault, including post-rape care
- Intimate partner violence
- Trafficking and exploitation
- Pathways of particular interest are innovations that:
- Target men and boys, adolescent girls and/or young women
- Are designed by and for marginalized groups
- Integrate mental health promotion and/or care
- Address the financial autonomy and economic empowerment of women and girls
- Address social contexts that drive violence against women
- Target humanitarian or crisis settings
- Child, early, and forced marriage, including innovations that focus on:
- Integrating economic opportunity, education, and social change
- Addressing unequal power relations
- Addressing context-specific cultural beliefs, customs, norms and practices
- Services for girls already in union, such as:
- Health and social support to improve sexual and reproductive health, as well as mental health, and to address the increased risk of health complications such as maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, survival of neonates, and vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV
- Improving opportunities for education, including non-formal education and livelihood training
- Sexual and reproductive health education and negotiation skills training
- Legal and financial support to leave marriages
Grant Information
Successful proposals will be awarded seed grants of up to $100,000 CAD for up to 12 months to develop and test the proposed innovation.
Target Beneficiaries
Innovations must directly benefit women and girls amongst the poorest of the poor in eligible low- and middle-income countries.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include social enterprises and other recognized institutions (e.g. non-profit organizations and for-profit companies) that are formed in an eligible jurisdiction, that can successfully execute the activities in their respective technical area, and are capable of receiving and administering grant funding.
- ONLY applicants from the list of countries (mentioned below) and Canada are eligible to apply to this RFP.
- Applicants from Upper-Middle-Income Countries (UMICs): Please note that a maximum of one (1) award will be made within each UMIC (i.e. to the top-ranked applicant from a given UMIC).
- It is mandatory for all applicants from Canada to have a collaborator based in an eligible country other than Canada. Existing and new collaborations are equally encouraged, particularly those that will bring additional components of Integrated Innovation to their project: scientific/technological, social and business innovation. Please note: it is not mandatory for applicants from eligible countries other than Canada to have a collaborator; however, collaborations are likewise encouraged.
- A project can only have one Project Lead who must be affiliated with the institution from which the proposal is being submitted.
- A Project Lead may only be listed on one application to this Request for Proposals.
- An institution from an eligible country may, however, be the applicant on multiple applications, if all applications have different Project Leads.
How to Apply
Applicants must apply online via given website.
Eligible Countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia, Kenya, Korea, Dem. Rep. Kyrgyz Rep., South Sudan, Tajikistan, Zimbabwe, Armenia, Belize, Bolivia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Rep., Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kosovo, Marshall Islands, Micronesia Federated States, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Syria, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza Strip, Albania, Algeria, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Gabon, Grenada, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Montserrat, Namibia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Seychelles, South Africa, St. Helena, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, Wallis and Futuna and Canada.
For more information, please visit Grand Challenges Canada.