In a landmark move, the Global Grand Challenges network, consisting of Grand Challenges Africa, Grand Challenges Rwanda, Grand Challenges Brazil, Grand Challenges Ethiopia, and Grand Challenges India, has teamed up with esteemed partners, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, Foundation S-The Sanofi Collective S, Rockefeller Foundation, and Pasteur Network. Together, they have unveiled a joint funding call totalling approximately $12 million.
The call is a rallying cry for innovative projects that employ transdisciplinary approaches to combat the adverse effects of climate change on health, women's lives, and agriculture. Priority will be given to locally led, system-level innovations that are scalable, sustainable, and span scientific and engineering disciplines. Innovators are eligible for seed grants of up to $200,000 each over 24 months to bring their visionary projects to fruition.
This initiative follows the 2022 climate and health call for applications by Grand Challenges Canada and the South African Medical Research Council/Grand Challenges South Africa. The funding is designed to spur transdisciplinary approaches that can adapt to, mitigate, or reverse the combined effects of climate change on health, women's lives, and agriculture.
At the COP28 session in Dubai, Tom Kariuki, CEO of the Science for Africa Foundation, drew attention to the disproportionate impact of climate change on low-income and disadvantaged communities. The initiative aims to catalyze collaborative efforts to develop innovations safeguarding the well-being of these vulnerable populations.
"Climate change is one of the greatest global health challenges of our time," asserted Alan Dangour, Director of Climate and Health at Wellcome. He stressed the need for scientific solutions prioritizing the most affected communities and underscored the importance of collaboration within the Grand Challenges partnership to achieve impactful, scalable outcomes.
Proposals are encouraged to address critical areas such as climate and health outcomes, climate and nutrition, adaptation strategies for agriculture, knowledge management, and data integration, as well as resilient supply chains for crisis management. The call is poised to catalyze transformative innovations that safeguard communities worldwide and pave the way for a sustainable future.
For those interested in applying for this request for proposals, click here
Article by Nyokabi Wanjiku
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