Covid-19 Innovation Challenge – Creating ‘new normal’ and building recovery

The UNDP Ghana Accelerator Lab is creating a nation-wide innovation platform to identify local solutions designed to help society as we all adjust to COVID-19.

The Challenge is a call to innovators, community activists and problem solvers, including those who do not have an online presence to participate.

The Challenge will cover technological and social innovations across public and private organisations including businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), the creative industry and the informal sector.

The objective is to explore innovative and sustainable solutions that will help Ghana’s recovery from the pandemic. The Ghana Accelerator Lab will support winning solutions and initiatives to scale up.

The focal areas of the challenge include:  

• Communicating key messages about COVID-19: How do we ensure that we maintain our adherence to the key public education messages from the Government? How do we avoid “caution fatigue” by keeping our motivation to comply with all protocols?
  
• Supporting Vulnerable Groups including People with Disabilities: There is concern that vulnerable groups particularly the poor and those with disabilities are being adversely affected by the pandemic. Which innovative approaches can be used to support them?
  
• Precautionary Measures against COVID-19: The World Health Organisation has set out the key precautionary measures to reduce the risk of infection. Are there particular innovative approaches to implementing these precautionary measures? Which approaches are working best in Ghana – particularly as we create the “new normal”?
  
• Compliance with Social Distancing Requirements: We are required to maintain physical distance from others to reduce transmission of the virus. How do we ensure that we continue to comply with this requirement while maintaining important social and business links?

All submissions will be reviewed by the UNDP Ghana Accelerator Lab and shortlisted against the following criteria; Relevance, Feasibility, Availability of local components, Duration/time of implementation, Ingenuity and Scalability, and Replicability. A panel of judges will assess and select the winners.

Winners will receive cash prizes of up to US$2,000.00 each to support their projects. 

Interested individuals and organisations can apply here or simply reach out to the Accelerator Lab on phone 055 271 5963, 055 271 7258 or on WhatsApp 050 126 3699 to tell us about their solutions.

Applications must be received by midnight on Friday, 25th September 2020.

For more information visit Challenge Information Page to Apply online