Deadline: February 11, 2026
Applications are open for the UN Global Pulse Accelerator Programme 2026. As the United Nations marks its 80th anniversary, the urgency to become more agile, innovative and future-ready has never been greater. A changing world needs a United Nations that adapts just as fast, which is why the UN Global Pulse Accelerator is launching its next call for applications, inviting UN teams to submit their innovative solutions ready to scale.
The UN Global Pulse Accelerator is the United Nations’ programme to support the scaling of promising, innovative solutions, ensuring that exceptional UN-led pilots maximize their impact for the people we serve. The programme supports UN-led teams in developing sustainable, realistic and impactful scaling strategies for their innovative solutions. Those with the most compelling strategies will be awarded a grant and tailored mentoring to help implement them.
The Accelerator is open to teams across the UN family working on innovative solutions that have been piloted at least once and can provide evidence of positive outcomes.
Benefits
- Selected teams will attend an in-person workshop in Finland from June 8-12, 2026, with three members from each team expected to attend. UN Global Pulse will cover flights for all participants.
Eligibility
For the fourth cohort, they are looking for solutions that:
- Demonstrate their readiness to transition to scale.
- Demonstrate their ability to achieve tangible results in development and/ or humanitarian action, with data, digital technologies and/ or AI serving as enabling components. Approaches may be low-tech, high-tech or hybrid, provided they are appropriate to the context and problem being addressed.
- Will enhance the UN’s delivery of outcomes for people and planet, support UN80 priorities on effectiveness and efficiency and the central promise of Agenda 2030 to leave no one behind.
Selection Criteria
- To qualify as an innovation project, it must show how it delivers impact by creating or adapting a product, service, process, or system that adds new value. This can be done by addressing an existing problem, seizing an opportunity, or meeting an anticipated need.
- Additionally, the innovation project must be led by at least one UN entity. Projects run solely by non-UN entities, or those only endorsed, branded, or funded by the UN, will not be considered.
Application
For more information, visit UN Global Pulse Accelerator Programme.
