This Grand Challenges request for proposals seeks innovative research and pilot/feasibility projects utilizing transdisciplinary approaches to better adapt to, mitigate, or reverse the combined, deleterious effects of climate change on health, women's lives, and agriculture in the geographies of interest. These innovations include early warning and disease surveillance systems to respond to climate-event-driven surges in malaria and other vector borne diseases, as well as improved mapping of expanded vector ranges and vector-borne disease transmission. Preference will be given to innovations that are formulated locally or adapted from other contexts. We are especially interested in 1) locally led, system-level innovations that are scalable and sustainable and 2) cross-cutting solutions at the intersection of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines.
Deadline: Jan. 31, 2024
Topic Areas:
- Health Outcomes - including systemic and compounding impacts of climate change on health.
- Nutrition - Undernutrition is a consequence of climate change - and it makes people more susceptible to its effects, particularly extreme heat exposure which poses unique risks for pregnant women, newborns, and infants under 2 years old.
- Adaptation Strategies for Agriculture and Income Development, with a focus on women's agriculture livelihoods.
- Knowledge Management and Data Integration of Climate and Health Databases - Many vector-borne diseases may increase in localities that were not prepared for them before the advent of climate-change. We seek solutions that integrate data from climate scientists, disease modelers, and government health officials to help address the rise of specific diseases.
- Effective Response and Resilient Supply Chains for Crisis Management – Maintaining routine health delivery or non-routine campaigns such as humanitarian aid and vaccination efforts will be an increasingly multifaceted problem as the need for rapid, directed humanitarian aid increases in the face of extreme climate events, examples include changing landscapes for roads and bridges; Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and armed conflicts; and disrupted daily routines for affected populations. We are seeking to implement agile, resilient supply chains that allow for the re-deployment of interventions based on need, e.g., malaria insecticide-treated nets, preventive chemotherapies, etc. against vector-borne diseases. (Geography of interest: sub-Saharan Africa)
This RFP is open to organizations based in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) and Brazil, including nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies and academic institutions. Please review the RFP topic /sub-areas closely for specific guidance on geographic area(s) of focus for each. Collaborations with global partners is acceptable, however, at least 80% of the funding needs to be awarded directly to organizations based in low- and middle-income countries. Individuals and organizations classified as individuals for U.S. tax purposes are not eligible to receive an award from the foundation as part of this initiative.
The funding level is up to USD $200,000.00, for each grant. The period of performance is up to two years. The geography of interest is outlined within the topic/sub-topic areas listed above. This means that the effort needs to be led by investigators in the specified geographies above. Global collaborators may be included, but at least 80% of the funding must go to an organization within the specified geographies. Application budgets should be commensurate with the scope of work proposed.