Grand Challenge for Development: Saving Lives at Birth

USAID, Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, Government of Norway, and the World Bank have joined together to launch Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, to find the tools and approaches to help the mothers and newborns during their most vulnerable hours. We seek groundbreaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in rural, low-resource settings around the time of delivery. We seek innovative ideas that can leapfrog conventional approaches in three main domains: (1) technology; (2) service delivery; and (3) “demand side” innovation that empowers women and their families to be aware of and access health care at the time of birth and adopt healthy behaviors:
- Seed funds: to support the development and validation needed to bring either component innovations or integrated innovations to proof of concept. Up to $250,000 over 2 years. Up to 25 applications will be funded in this first wave of funding.
- Transition Funds: to fund the transition to scale of integrated innovations for which there is either compelling evidence of a cost effective impact on the lives of pregnant women and newborns that justifies the long-term public funds or a credible plan for long-run scaling using private funds without a subsidy.  Transition funding is limited to integrated innovations. Up to $2million over 4 years. Up to 5 applications will be funded in this first wave of funding.