2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders

Deadline: 5 November 2014

The Young African leaders between 25-35 years of age who are eligible to receive a United States J-1 Visa to apply for the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship, a merit-based open competition – the new flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The application will open on 7 October & close on 5 November 2014.

Among all the applicants, select semifinalists will be chosen and interviewed by the US embassies or consulates in their home countries. These selected candidates must provide a copy of their passport (if available) or other government-issued photo identification to verify eligibility.

Fellowship Activities

1. A 6-week Academic and Leadership Institute
2. A Summit with President Obama in Washington, DC
3. An optional 8-week U.S. Internship
4. Activities in Africa

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be young African leaders between 25-35 years of age.
• Applicants cannot be US citizens or permanent residents of the US.
• Applicants must be eligible to receive a US J-1 visa.
• Applicants must be proficient in English language.
• Applicants must be the citizens and residents of the following countries to be eligible for the fellowships – Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Applicants must have a proven record of leadership and accomplishment in public service, business and entrepreneurship, or civic engagement.
• Applicants must demonstrate commitment to public or community service, volunteerism, or mentorship.
• Applicants must have the ability to work cooperatively in diverse groups and respect the opinions of others.
• Applicants must demonstrate strong social and communication skills, should be energetic and have positive attitude.

Prepare your resume before beginning with the application. You will also have to provide personal information. You can also upload letters of recommendation or university transcript.

For more information, please visit YALI 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship.

The Grand Challenges Explorations Round 14 to Fund Your Ideas on Global Health (up to US$100,000)

Deadline: 12 November 2014

The Grand Challenges Explorations is now accepting applications for the Round 14. Early-stage research projects including many ideas that have never been tested and scientists and innovators from a wide range of disciplines and regions are encouraged to take the grand challenge and secure fund to implement their projects. The grand challenge is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation initiatives supporting innovative ideas leading to new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, and other technologies targeting diseases that claim millions of lives every year. Concepts/ideas leading to the improvements and innovations in agriculture development are equally encouraged for participation in the challenge.

Ideas can be submitted on the following Topics

1. Surveillance Tools, Diagnostics and an Artificial Diet to Support New Approaches to Vector Control
2. New Approaches for Addressing Outdoor/Residual Malaria Transmission
3. New Ways to Reduce Pneumonia Fatalities Through Timely, Effective Treatment of Children
4. Enable Universal Acceptance of Mobile Money Payments
5. Explore New Ways to Measure Brain Development and Gestational Age
6. New Ways of Working Together: Integrating Community-Based Interventions

Grant awardees may receive up to US$100,000 to implement the project for 18 months. This is the Phase I project amount. Awardees can apply for a follow-on Phase II grant award of up to US$100,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants can be foreign and domestic organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies and academic institutions.
• Individuals and organizations classified as individuals for U.S. tax purposes (including sole proprietorships and some single member limited liability companies) are not eligible for funding.
• Applicants planning to conduct project activities in India may be required to register with the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010.
• Applicants will be asked to submit a copy of organization’s registration under FCRA or a written certification that the organization is exempt from such registration requirements.
• Proposal must demonstrate an innovative approach that complies with all restrictions and guidelines for the topic to which the application is being made.
• Proposal should not include personal or organizational information of the applicants in the body. Proposals that include personal or organizational information in the body of the proposal are at risk of being automatically removed from consideration.

Note: Please remember to visit the individual topics and read thoroughly to check the compliance of your idea and other requirements.

For more information, please visit Grand Challenges Explorations Round 14.

The Development Innovation Ventures of USAID to Implement Innovative Ideas

Deadline: Ongoing

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) accepts Letter of Interest (LOI) for innovative ideas to pilot and test them using cutting-edge analytical methods, and to scale solutions that demonstrate widespread impact and cost-effectiveness. The primary objective of DIV is to support the discovery of better ways to solve big problems.

Stages

1. Proof of Concept/Initial Testing – The DIV grants support the introduction of a solution in a developing country context to gain an early, real-world assessment of the solution. This includes testing for technical, organization, distribution, and financial viability. Key activities could include assessing user demand, willingness to pay, and correct usage of products and services, as well as documenting social outcomes and real world costs to implement the solution. Grant ranges from $25,000 to $150,000 to implement the activities for up to two years.
2. Testing and Positioning for Scale – The DIV grants support testing for social impact, improved outcomes and/or market viability, as well as operational refinement to build paths to sustainability and scale. Grant ranges from $150,000 to $1,500,000 to implement activities for up to three years.
3. Transitioning Proven Solutions to Scale – The DIV grants supports transitioning proven approaches to scale. This includes adaptation to new contexts and geographies. Operational challenges for scaling should be identified and addressed, allowing refinement and iteration along defined pathways to scale. The funding and support provide a runway for applicants to grow, while engaging additional partners who will help scale the project beyond DIV support, but for whom more evidence of success and track record are needed. Categories – A & B. Grants available for Category A range from $1.5M to $6M, and Category B awards range from $6M – $15M to implement activities for up to five years.

The DIV model implies an open grant competition supporting the most promising solutions that demonstrate cost-efficiency and the potential to scale up. DIV is supporting teams of young entrepreneurs, world-class development economists, public-private partnerships, international NGOs, and others around the developing world. Teams are implementing scalable and cost-effective development solutions that address problems in maternal health concerns, election transparency, renewable energy, and other sectors in dozens of countries worldwide.

Applicants can be ideally anyone, any sort of organization or institution from any country in the world where USAID operates. It can be a lab in a university, a local organization with deep contextual knowledge, or a passionate entrepreneur. Innovations are expected to eventually scale up through the public sector, the private sector, or in some cases a combination of the two.

Eligibility Criteria

• U.S. and non-US organizations, individuals, non-profit, and for-profit entities, provided their work is in a country where USAID operates.
• Applicants must have the potential to deliver great development impacts.
• Applications can be made at any stage.
• An applicant can submit unlimited number of unique LOIs; however they can only submit one Letter of Interest at a time for the same idea.

If the letter of intent is selected, applicants will be sent the full application form with submission instructions. The selected full applications will be awarded funding to implement the activities.

For more information, please visit Development Innovation Ventures.

Win Up to €100,000 of the Risk Award to Increase People’s Resilience to Risks and Disasters

Deadline: 1 November 2014

The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), Global Risk Forum Davos (GRF) and Munich Re Foundation (MRF) jointly invite individuals, teams or institutions from all different sectors, including governmental bodies for Risk Award up to €100,000 to increase people’s resilience to risks and disasters. Primary aim of the award is to increase people’s resilience to risks and disasters, especially in developing countries. The award may concentrate on population development, water as a resource, and other risk.

Topic: Disaster emergency – Resilience for the most vulnerable.

Ideas involving the people at risk, proposals combining bottom-up approaches with top-down frameworks and projects engaging multi-stakeholder partnerships (different sectors, different sizes, different organizational background, PPPs) are highly encouraged.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants can be individuals, teams or institutions from all different sectors, including governmental bodies.
• The proposed project should be between 6 months to 2 years.
• The proposal must address the topic: ‘Disaster Risk Reduction – People-centered, innovative and sustainable’.
• The proposed project must include an implementation part (action), a proposal solely based on research is not sufficient.
• The risks must be related to natural, climate change and/or environmental issues.
• Risks due to social turmoil, war, chemical disasters, and/or political crises will be funded.
• The RISK Award contribution must have a visible impact within the project.
• If the whole budget is bigger than the RISK Award it must be clearly visible for what purpose the RISK Award funding will be used.

For more information, please visit About Risk Awards.