New Cycle of the Ascend Learning and Innovation Fund

21 Oct 2020

Do you have an innovative idea to help beat neglected tropical diseases?

Following a successful initial cycle, the Ascend West and Central Africa programme is excited to announce the opening of the second Cycle of the Ascend Learning and Innovation Fund, to accelerate the control and elimination efforts for up to five neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

The fund can provide up to £350,000 to support a flexible range of NTD-focused projects in 13 countries in West and Central Africa. The aim of the fund is to seek to enhance the quality of effective NTD programming by testing innovative ideas and assisting the transition of programme learnings into scalable and sustainable outcomes.

Turn your idea into a life-changing project

If you have an impactful idea, the fund team want to hear it and help make it a reality. Successful project proposals will address one of the four following challenge statements:

Challenge 1: Challenge 1: COVID-19 – How can adaptive NTD delivery ‘build back better’ in the context of COVID 19 pandemic?
Challenge 2: Integration and multisectoral action – How can NTD interventions leverage synergies arising from collaborations across diseases, sectors and borders?
Challenge 3: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) – How can we enhance access to, and quality of, NTD treatment and prevention services in the context of UHC?
Challenge 4. Health systems strengthening – How can we ensure long-term, in-country sustainability for NTD programmes?
Challenge 5. Data systems – How can we increase the quality and availability of NTD data at all levels to better inform NTD programming?

If you want to address something outside of these challenges that is relevant to the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases, please send an email to: fundteam [at] ascendwest-innovationfund [dot] org discuss further.

Applying

The fund consists of 4 application windows. Applications for Cycle 2 open on 9th October 2020 and will close on 6th November 2020. All project activities and reports must be completed and submitted by 31st January 2022 at the latest.

For more information on the application process, fund guidelines and challenge statements please visit: ascend-west-innovationfund.org or email the team: fundteam [at] ascendwest-innovationfund [dot] org.

Research Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Behaviour change

Context

Neglected tropical diseases

Currently, over a billion people are at risk of a group of bacterial and parasitic conditions known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These diseases are excruciatingly painful, can cause disabilities and trap people in a cycle of poverty. NTDs mostly affect people living in remote, rural regions, poor urban areas and conflict zones, yet they are preventable and treatable.

In recent years, significant progress has been made towards NTD control and elimination, but there is still a long journey ahead. With funding from UK aid, the Ascend West and Central Africa programme aims to make major progress towards enhancing the control and elimination of NTDs. This is an opportunity to redouble efforts and increase momentum towards ending these diseases.

The Ascend Learning and Innovation Fund

The Ascend Learning and Innovation Fund has been set up to respond to emerging needs and gaps from the wider NTD community. It is an opportunity to provide funding for innovative approaches to NTD programming that will accelerate progress towards the control and elimination of five NTDs in 13 of the world’s poorest countries across West and Central Africa.

Submissions are welcomed from applicants affiliated with eligible organisations. These may include but are not limited to Ascend partners, governmental institutions, non-profit organisations, academic institutions and for-profit businesses.

In the context of a drastically changed NTD landscape due to COVID-19, the fund is seeking innovative proposals to explore how adaptive NTD delivery can be supported to ‘build back better’. Rather than returning to “business as usual” once the pandemic has subsided, the global health community and partners must adapt to a new normal. There is an opportunity to harness the lessons learned from this crisis to minimise the risks of COVID-19 whilst also accelerating the interruption of NTDs.

Impact and Innovation

Enhancing the elimination and control of NTDs requires innovative thinking to deliver impactful solutions. This is prioritised in the WHO 2030 Roadmap. Innovation can play a big role in helping to make integration into routine health systems more feasible, supporting NTD programmes to build back better and come back even stronger following the pause in activity.

We recognise that innovation has an inherent risk of failure but understanding what works and what does not work is helpful, so projects should ensure that valuable lessons are clearly learned, and implications of failure can be accounted for.

The fund is a platform for applicants to explore innovations, generate breakthroughs in learning, apply best practice, implement interventions and make a marked difference. And they will be encouraged to take their submissions from ideas to implementation, with support from the fund.

Flexible range of projects funded

The Ascend Learning and Innovation Fund can provide investment between £25,000 - £350,000 to support a flexible range of NTD-focused activities and welcomes widespread representation of both applicants and ideas.

Innovation in this context is not just limited to high-tech or brand-new solutions, but is about i) developing and testing creative solutions to known challenges ii) learning and an openness to adapt, as innovation has an inherent risk of failure and iii) supporting a vision for scalability and increasing impact. Examples of innovative work may include bringing in learning from outside of the NTD sector or bridging the gap between research and implementation

Find out more here: https://ascendwest-innovationfund.org

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