Deadline: August 10, 2018
Applications are open for the second round of the GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund 2018. The GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund aims to promote innovation in the use of mobile technology to address humanitarian challenges. This funding round will test new technical solutions, catalyse ideas to improve or transform institutional systems, and enable solutions to empower, assist or protect individuals and communities affected by complex emergencies and forced displacement.
Project impact should be delivered in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, or Latin America. The Fund is especially interested in projects – implemented through collaborative partnerships – that can demonstrate long-term sustainability (i.e. commercial, technical, social, economic, environmental) beyond the lifespan of the grant.
Thematic Areas
All grant funded projects are expected to provide examples of best practice and lessons learnt on how mobile technology can address 5 key themes within humanitarian contexts:
- Mobile Enabled Utilities
- Gender & Inclusivity
- Mobile Financial Services
- Digital Identity
- Food Security, Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change
Benefits
- Funding of up to £300,000 per project is available, as well as mentoring, networking, project support and promotion.
Eligibility
- Applicants must make use of mobile technology to support solutions in the context of ‘complex emergencies’ or ‘forced displacement’;
- Applicants must be able to provide formal evidence of a partnership (e.g. contract/MoU) with one or more eligible organisation(s) where the collaborating partners will be involved in implementing the grant project;
- Clearly demonstrate how the proposed project meets one of the Fund’s five focus areas (see section 3);
- Have a minimum viable product / solution (grant funding cannot be spent on Research and Development at ideation stage;
- Have the necessary rights / permissions required to operate in the selected implementation area as relevant (i.e. refugee settlements);
- Commit to providing the required match funding for the selected grant type;
- Be in satisfactory financial health, have adequate financial systems and human resource capacity to implement the grant project. GSMA may require the applicant to undergo a pre-selection assurance review. Such review, if required will be conducted by an independent organisation chosen by GSMA.
Eligible organisations and lead applicants
- Eligible organisations must be legally registered and have the right to operate in country(ies) of operation. Lead applicants are responsible for: starting an application, adding and removing collaborators to the application, assigning questions to collaborators, answering questions relevant to you, reviewing content entered by collaborators, submitting the application before the deadline, signing the contract with GSMA Foundation if a grant is awarded.
- In order to be eligible for a M4H Fund grant, the primary applicant (i.e. the organization that will sign the Grant Agreement with the GSMA) must be a mobile network operators (MNO), non-governmental organization (NGO), humanitarian agency or a private company.
- The following organisations cannot serve as lead applicants but are encouraged to join eligible partnerships as an implementing partner:
- United Nations agencies
- Academic institutions
- Government bodies
Application
For more information, visit GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund.
