How To Apply for WFP Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme 2022

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator sources, supports and scales bold new solutions to disrupt global hunger and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme (DHIAP) is in search of scalable digital solutions using open standards and approaches towards the creation of global goods. The solutions must have a focus on building and supporting pandemic preparedness capabilities and speeding up demand-driven vaccine distribution and the recovery of communities and health systems in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

DHIAP will select mature start-ups and solution providers that already have a presence in any of the target countries. These innovators will receive financial, technical and methodological support from the WFP Innovation Accelerator and other partners as they enter the six-month WFP Sprint Programme.

Benefits

• Hands-on support & access to network: Selected ventures will be invited to participate in a fully virtual WFP Innovation Bootcamp in November 2022.
• Funding, coaching & mentorship: Selected ventures will be invited to apply to the WFP Sprint Programme – a six-month acceleration program with access to up to $250,000 in equity-free funding, coaching, and mentorship support from a global network of relevant partners in the public health space.
• Scaling: Mature solutions that have proven their concept, scale, and value for social impact may qualify for further funding and support.

Eligibility

They are looking for digitally-powered solutions that can contribute to building pandemic preparedness capabilities in selected countries: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

• Your organization must be an established legal entity (for-profit, non for profit, social enterprise) for at least 2 years.
• Your solution should demonstrate adherence to the principles for digital development.
• The proposed solution should be or work towards creating a digital public global good (i.e., follow open standards, open-source or open data approaches).
• The developed or implemented solution should preferably use data and information exchange mechanisms based on global standards (e.g. openHIE).
• The solutions should be interoperable with other existing systems, including, but not limited to national health management information systems.
• The applicant organization should already have a presence in the country of implementation (country office or other permanent presence, subsidiary, long-term operations, or partnerships in the country, ideally with the relevant Public Health government agencies), and would ideally have the buy-in from national, regional, or local governments.
• Your innovation ideally addresses one or more of the specified priority country-specific topics, or, if not, it can still contribute towards building and supporting pandemic preparedness capabilities in aforementioned countries.
• Your innovation should have a demonstrated proof-of-concept with initial traction and a clear path to scale (capacity to be adapted, expanded, replicated or scaled).
• Your solution should be able to demonstrate inclusion of, or focus on, supporting or increasing access for: women, marginalized or underserved communities, mobile populations, people with disabilities, and high-risk groups vulnerable to COVID-19.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Impact & Scalability: Applicants should have a defined vision, an identified target group, and be able to demonstrate the potential to solve the posed challenge(s).
• Team: Applicants should be able to demonstrate they have a diverse, non-discriminatory, gender-balanced organization with demonstrated leadership and an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Novelty: Applicants should be able to show how their solution and business model are innovative while being technically suitable and viable.
• Traction: Applicants should be able to present evidence of feasibility and adoption by the target group.
• Business Model: Applicants should demonstrate the viability of their business model, how they intend to achieve a sustainable business, pricing, and financial model.

How To Apply

Can your innovation help communities and health systems prepare for pandemics and enhance the recovery of health systems?

Click Here To Apply

For more information, visit WFP DHIAP

Application Deadline: September 11, 2022

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