The Kofi Annan Award is powered by the Austrian Federal Chancellery, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator, the Austrian Development Agency, and the Kofi Annan Foundation, all in collaboration.
The award is focused on picking out and supporting social entrepreneurs with digital or technology-powered solutions for people in Africa, to aid them in laying the foundations for their ideas.
The 2021 Kofi Annan Award theme is centered on innovative solutions that contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and Well-Being as well as a keen focus on “high quality” universal health coverage.
What Does This Award Offer?
The partnering organizations aforementioned have come together to offer the following benefits to solutions that tackle the “urgent healthcare needs of people across Africa”:
- 9 teams will be selected to participate in an entirely virtual WFP Innovation Bootcamp — they will get the chance to work with and get guidance from technical and industry mentors.
- Projects that make it to Bootcamp have the opportunity to apply to the Austrian Development Agency for 3 spots for a cash price of €250,000.
- The 3 ventures that are each awarded €250,000 will also join the WFP Sprint Programme, a 12-month acceleration program with access to mentorship, and a global network of partners.
- The final 9 ventures will be able to tap into and leverage a network of relevant businesses, investors, and mentors.
What Are The Organisers Looking For?
- Applications from social entrepreneurs with digital or technology-powered solutions for people in Africa that tackle one or more of the following challenges:
- Availability and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines (including production, transport, and distribution, as well as financial mechanisms allowing for affordability).
- Access to quality essential healthcare services (including telemedicine etc.)
- Availability and access to mental health services (including training of mental health practitioners, telehealth solutions, and projects aiming at de-stigmatization).
- Better prevention and prophylaxis: early warning, risk reduction, and management of health risks.
- Improve financial risk protection for the most vulnerable (including micro-insurance solutions, reduction of out-of-pocket expenses, prepayment, and pooling of resources for health).
- Wildcard: high potential disruptive innovations in the digital health space.
Am I Eligible?
The criteria for eligibility are as follows:
- Your company must be a for-profit legal entity and incorporated for at least two years at the time of application.
- Your solution is anchored in at least one African country.
- You must have existing contacts/presence in the country of implementation— country office or other permanent presence, subsidiary, long-term operations, or partnerships in the country.
- Your innovation addresses one or more areas of SDG 3 Target Indicator 8.
- The entity does not fall under any of the points listed in the solemn declaration.
- Your innovation has more than 1 million people in the total addressable market.
- Your startup pays attention to environmental protection and climate change, gender equality and women empowerment, as well as social inclusion (leave no one behind).
- Your startup is not required to make a monetary contribution to the proposed project budget.
- Your innovation should have a strong proof-of-concept with initial traction and a clear path to scale.
Application Deadline:
1 December 2021 11:59pm (CET / GMT+1)
