Government turns to innovators to help reduce maternal mortality

In efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) supporting the Government of Kenya (GOK), offered a three-year grant fund worth £16 million through an innovation challenge called The County Innovation Challenge Fund (CICF).

Now, The County Innovation Challenge Fund (CICF) is calling upon innovators who have innovation project that can demonstrate innovative local solutions in service delivery, financing, policy and regulation, technology, processes and products that are readily available to and will impact quality of maternal and new born health services in low-resource settings

The first round of submissions was opened on 27 March 2015 and funding applications will be due on 31 May 2015. A second round is planned to open on 1 June 2015 and funding applications will be due on 31 July 2015.

This investment will support the design and delivery of innovative interventions, products, processes, services, technologies or ideas that will reduce maternal and new-born mortality.

The Fund looks into contributing positive change in the maternal and newborn health sector in at least one of the six target counties. These are Bungoma, Homa Bay, Garissa, Kakamega, Nairobi (Embakasi and Kamukunji areas only) and Turkana counties.

The Fund will consider applications from international, national and community based non-governmental, faith based and civil society organisations/institutions; academic and research institutions; innovation hubs and the private sector.

Funding is available for projects that are new (through the Innovation Competition) or that that can be scaled-up (through the Scaling Competition).

The overarching goal of the CICF is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in the focus counties. Within this context, the Fund’s aims are to increase access to and utilisation of quality maternal and newborn health services.

Projects should increase access to and utilisation of quality maternal and newborn health services, strengthen health systems supported by County Health Management Teams and Sub-County Health Management Teams, health facilities and community units.

The Fund hopes to implement selected innovative approaches that respond to local challenges and provide local solutions to improve service coverage, quality and increased demand for maternal and newborn health care services in the target counties.

“We seek significant breakthroughs in innovation, radical solutions that will revolutionize local problems in delivery of quality maternal and newborn health services. New ideas, new technologies, new approaches that will transform a poor woman’s challenge to seek, reach and receive adequate health care. Innovative ideas that will turn around supply-side and demand-side limitations to increase access to and utilisation of quality maternal and newborn health services in the target counties,” read a statement.

CICF is managed by a team, under the MANI project funded by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) supporting the Government of Kenya’s efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. The MANI Project is led by Options Consultancy Services Limited, KPMG International Development Advisory Services is the CICF Fund Manager and Population Council is the CICF Technical Manager.