Rising Roots

POVERTY GRADUATION; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Gender focused poverty graduation program to ultra-poor women with resources to create sustainable businesses and permanently break the poverty cycle.

Learn more about the Poverty Graduation Challenge and why an evidence-based program that combines cash or asset transfers with mentorship and other forms of financial and social support helps graduate the ultra poor from poverty.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Rising Roots empowers last mile marginal households to access resilient and sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurship.

Rising Roots uses a one year gender focused poverty graduation program to ultra-poor women with resources to create sustainable businesses and permanently break the poverty cycle. The program has six sequenced components: Targeting, Technical Business Training, Seed Capital, Business Savings Groups, Mentoring and Social Integration. The pilot program is implemented in Mayuge District.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Enroll 60 ultra poor women into the poverty graduation program

• Launch 20 group based businesses within the community

• Raise an additional $15,000

FOUNDING TEAM

Nganda Ben - Program Director

Achen Grace - Field Coordinator

Balyebuga Kelvin - Strategic Partnership and Development Manager

SCI Smart City Development Initiative Limited

ROAD SAFETY CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Proven sticker model to reduce reckless driving and road traffic crashes.

Learn more about the Road Safety Challenge and how an evidence-based campaign targeting unsafe driving by public taxis can reduce road deaths.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Smart City Initiatives Uganda is an NGO that develops, promotes and scales-up cost-effective interventions to improve road safety.

SCI Smart City Development Initiative Limited is implementing the proven sticker model to reduce Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) within the Great Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) and other cities in Uganda. The stickers are designed with image-aids, 2d cartoons, and evocative messages in English and local languages, and are placed inside taxis, on boda-bodas, and at the back of the helmets to empower passengers to speak up to their drivers against dangerous driving.

SCI was founded in 2021 by Yusuf Kyambadde as the Director, Sharon Bayiga Natukunda as the Project Officer, Paul Maurice Ggowa as the Strategic Information Adviser, and Tony Otim whose is in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach out to approximately 4000 taxi drivers (approx. 1000 drivers per taxi park), 1000 Boda-Boda riders with stickers by the end of three months

• Reach out to 10,000 taxis and 2500 boda-bodas, hence reducing the proportion of RTCs by nearly 24% in the Central, Kampala, Kampala Capital City Centre (KCCC) by the end of Year 1

• Reach out to 25,000 taxis and 6250 boda-bodas, hence reducing the proportion of RTCs by approximately 48% in GKMA by the end of Year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Yusuf Kyambadde - Founder and Director

Sharon Bayiga Natukunda - Co-Founder Project Officer

Paul Maurice Ggowa - Strategic Information Officer

Otim Tony - Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Fistula Awareness and Treatment Initiative

PATIENT IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGE; SOUTH SUDAN

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Obstetric fistula screenings.

Learn more about the Patient Identification Challenge and why identifying individuals in need of medical treatment and finding ways to make that treatment accessible reduces poverty.  

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Fistula Awareness and Treatment Initiative aims to identify and to help treat obstetric fistula patients from remote areas of South Sudan.

In Western Equatoria State of South Sudan, the majority of women deliver at home without a skilled birth attendant and when complications arise, as they do in approximately 30% of all births, there is no one available to treat the woman, leading to disabling injuries like fistula. The project will use women peer educators, community health workers and traditional healers to increase community awareness about the issue, with a concomitant increase in the number of patients identified and be referred to the nearby hospitals to receive the required treatment for obstetric fistula. The project will cover transportation costs for fistula patients to get treatment and will further establish fistula survivors’ solidarity groups for awareness raising and ongoing identification of other patients.

Fistula Awareness and Treatment Initiative was started December 2021 by Fidele Tuyishimire and Pio William Jey Mayot. Fidele serves as the Director of the initiative while Pio William serves as its Partnership Officer.

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Identify and help treating 150 fistula patients

• Empower 60 community health workers and 40 traditional healers to assist in identifying and help treating fistula patients

• Conduct 40 community awareness campaigns on obstetric fistula

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Fidele Tuyishimire- Director

Pio William Jey Mayot - Partnership Officer

Sustainable Initiative for Nutrition & Development

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Nutrition through exclusive breast milk feeding

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Sustainable Initiative for Nutrition & Development (SIND's) exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) and support campaign project aims to increase exclusive breast milk feeding rate by improving health facility and community breastfeeding support continuum for lactating mothers in Nigeria.

SIND’s model is training and engaging health workers, traditional birth attendants and community influencers to promote, protect and provide supportive actions as well as uphold learning and practice exchange of exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) for lactating mothers sustain EBMF for 6-month. SIND exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) and support campaign project creates a synergy for community collective actions to support lactating mothers and shared exclusive breast milk feeding responsibilities

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 1800 mother-infant dyads within six months of pilot

• Train and engage 35 (EBMF support group) champions to promote, protect and ensure lactating mothers practice exclusive breast milk feeding (EBMF) for 6-month

• Fundraise $200,000 from new donors or investors in the first two years of operations

FOUNDING TEAM

Oderinde Michael - Founder/Program Director

Union des Jeunes Filles pour le Développement

SUGAR DADDY AWARENESS CHALLENGE; DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sugar Daddy Awareness classes. 

Learn more about the Sugar Daddy Awareness Challenge and how a simple, one-hour “sugar daddy awareness” training could help countless girls avoid pregnancy while still in school, which can lead to entrenched poverty, and build a better life.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Union des Jeunes Filles pour le Développement (UJFD) leverages existing youth education programming in DR Congo to deliver and timely scale proven and cost-effective solutions that contribute to the reduction of risky of sex among adolescent girls, reduce teenage pregnancy and HIV infection rates.

UJFD will organize 1-hour anti-sugar daddy module to be delivered by experienced women/youth facilitators. This module will highlight the higher HIV risk of cross-generational relationships to limit risky sex and teenage pregnancies among adolescent girls. This module will be delivered through trained facilitators. UJFD will reach 50 schools during the pilot and reach over 5000 teenage girls in the South-Kivu Province.

Union des Jeunes Filles pour le Développement was started in 2020 by Elizabeth Pelele and Ahongo Zakaria Opulent.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 5,000 students during the three-month pilot

• Organize 100 Sugar Daddy classes

• Number of schools reached (50)

• Reach 25,000 students by the end of year 1

FOUNDING TEAM

Elizabeth Pelele - Co-Founder and Coordinator

Ahongo Zakaria Opulent - Co-Founder and Program Manager

Shopner Bhubon Education

TEACHING AT THE RIGHT LEVEL CHALLENGE; Bangladesh

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) is an education program that tailors instruction to the learning level of the child, rather than their age. The result is that basic literacy and numeracy are achieved by students before they finish primary school.

Learn more about the Teaching at the Right Level Challenge and other D-Prize Distribution Challenges.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Shopner Bhubon Education is a nonprofit venture that seeks to improve education attainment among primary school students in rural Bangladesh.

Shopner Bhubon Education plans to run Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) learning camps in a resource-limited and flood-prone setting in Gaidbandha, in northern Bangladesh. They will conduct workshops for 300 students between Grades 1 and 3 across 10 schools over 6 months, dividing them into groups based on their learning needs rather than age or grade, dedicating time to basic skills rather than focusing solely on the curriculum and regularly assessing their performance, rather than relying only on end-of-year examinations. This will be the first implementation of the TaRL model at scale in Bangladesh. In addition, the pilot will include students who are returning to school after over a year of being at home because of the pandemic. This program will provide evidence on how to help students catch up in their critical reading and writing skills post-pandemic.

All 3 founding members of Shopner Bhubon Education are very knowledgeable of the local school system in Gaibandha, Bangladesh, the curriculum and educational needs of the area and very enthusiastic to help in the development of the region. Shadman has extensive experience running RCTs and scaling interventions at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the World Bank. Shahada has extensive teaching experience in the pilot region, currently working as the headmistress at a local school. She will be leading the volunteer recruitment, training and monitoring. Raeesa is an education manager who has worked extensively on education research and policy in Bangladesh, especially in her work for BRAC, a key NGO in the region.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• 10 active schools during the pilot phase (2 cycles, 3 months each)

• 50 teachers trained

• 1,000 students start participating in our pilot program

• 2,000 total students start participating in our now piloted program by Year 1

• 50,000 total students start participating in our programs by Year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Shadman Rahman - CEO

Shahada Akter- COO

Raeesa Rahemin- Research Manager

Lafiya Nigeria

SAYANA PRESS CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sayana Press injectable contraceptive.  

Learn more about the Sayana®  Press Challenge and why training health providers to administer Sayana® Press can be particularly valuable for women who prefer injectable contraceptives but don’t have regular access.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Lafiya Nigeria trains midwives, nurses, and community health workers to become “Lafiya Sisters,” specialists in family planning. Their team ensures that new mothers in hard-to-reach communities receive family planning counselling and access to contraceptives—like injectables—right after childbirth, empowering women to take control of their reproductive health.

Their mission is to empower women to have control over their reproductive autonomy. Lafiya Nigeria was started in 2021 by Yifei Jefferson Chen and Klau Chmielowska.

PILOT RESULTS AND SCALING GOALS

• Distributed 800 doses of Sayana Press to women in three months

• Reached 2,700 women by the end of Year 1

• Reached 10,700 women by the end of Year 2

• Reach 50,000 women by the end of Year 3

FOUNDING TEAM

Klaudia Chmielowska - Co-Founder and Executive Director

Yifei Jefferson Chen - Co-Founder and Director of Partnerships

Maatri

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; Nepal

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Maatri aims to prevent the postpartum hemorrhage and curb the maternal deaths by the community-based door to door distribution of misoprostol (a WHO approved low cost uterotonic drug) via Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs).

Nepal has a very high maternal mortality rate of 186 deaths per 100,000 live births about 25% of which has been attributed to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Due to long distances to health facilities, most women die from postpartum hemorrhage in the communities as they try to deliver under the care of unskilled traditional birth attendants. The number of institutional deliveries is woefully low in most parts of Nepal and an estimated two-thirds of women still give birth at home with no skilled birth attendant present.

Maatri’s model seeks to train the FCHVs on PPH and the role of misoprostol in its management. They will then go door-to-door in the communities to provide antenatal counseling and instructions to pregnant women and household decision makers on how to dispense misoprostol. The pilot project will operate in province 6, one of the most rural regions of Nepal.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly reach 300 women during the pilot phase

• Use 15 trained Female Community Health Volunteer’s (FCHVs) to distribute 300 doses of misoprostol tablets during the pilot phase

• Secure an additional $25,000 USD funding within the first three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Dr. Preeti Shakya - CEO & Founder

Bihani Gurung - Field Trainer

Abhishek Shakya - Accounts, Procurement and Logistics Manager

Prithak Shrestha - Communications and Advocacy Officer

Soma Sawa

TEACHING AT THE RIGHT LEVEL CHALLENGE; KENYA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) is an education program that tailors instruction to the learning level of the child, rather than their age. The result is that basic literacy and numeracy are achieved by students before they finish primary school.

Learn more about the Teaching at the Right Level Challenge and other D-Prize Distribution Challenges.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Soma Sawa will aggressively intervene at the right time to close the gaps in education before students become unsuccessful. Using Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) methodology, the venture will target 3rd to 5th grade students who are left behind in their classrooms to quickly help them catch up in Literacy and Numeracy. Soma Sawa will leverage resources from University partners, community volunteers, education enthusiasts and parents to offer a robust but cost effective innovation to students.

Dorothy Dulo is the founder of Soma Sawa. The founding team members are Joyce Wambare, Brian Etole, Ann Mamboleo, and Linda Akoth.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 400 students during the pilot period

• Raise $10,000 of funding during the pilot period

• Reach 15,000 students by the end of year 1

• Reach 50,000 students by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Dorothy Dulo - Founder/Director

Impact Energy

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; ZAMBIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Impact Energy was founded by Mapalo Wamushilo and co-founded by Mwemba Mvula. The venture will distribute solar lanterns in partnership with last mile mobile money booths.

The business model is based on working with mobile money service providers to distribute solar lanterns with agents working under them to work in rural field communities to do sales and marketing. The project will be implemented in rural Zambia, where the team has experience working in rural communities to deliver development through schools.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Distribute 500 solar lamps during the three-month pilot through a network of 30 agents

• Raise an additional $40,000 during the three-month pilot

• Reach 440,000 people by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Mapalo Wamushilo

Mwemba Mvula

Learning Aid Initiative for Children Underprivileged (LAICU)

TEACHING AT THE RIGHT LEVEL CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) is an education program that tailors instruction to the learning level of the child, rather than their age. The result is that basic literacy and numeracy are achieved by students before they finish primary school.

Learn more about the Teaching at the Right Level Challenge and other D-Prize Distribution Challenges.

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Learning Aid Initiative for Children Underprivileged (LAICU) delivers the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) education program in rural primary schools to improve basic reading and math skills before students graduate from primary schools.

In collaboration with the State Universal Basic Education Board and Local Government Education Secretary, LAICU is able to access classrooms of public primary schools to deliver TaRL education Program, while also maintaining interaction with foundations that provide support and intervention for quality primary school education. The program’s recruitment process provides TaRL training to graduates with National Certificate in Education or holders of first degree whom are unemployed within the intervention communities. They serve as volunteer TaRL instructors in their communities where the TaRL program is implemented.

This model will be launched at three public schools in Riyom District, Plateau State benefiting up to 250 pupils. An initial baseline assessment will be undertaken to group pupils in their appropriate learning levels. This data will be utilized by the instructors in the TaRL classrooms to provide the appropriate reading and math activities to the pupils.

The learning camp commences with a lunch break immediately after regular school hours before providing pupils with reading and math activities for two hours daily.

LAICU was founded by Kangyang Pam, Gideon Wang and Dura Moses in August 2020. They are passionate about rural development and aspire to bridge the educational gap of children in rural communities

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 250 students during the pilot period

• Train 18 community volunteers to serve as TaRL instructors in three public schools during the pilot period

• Raise $10,000 from local donors and government collaboration within first 3 months

• Reach 1,000 students by the end of year 1

• Reach 5,000 students by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Kangyang Musa Pam - Project Coordinator

Gideon Wang - Programme/M&E Manager

Dura Moses - Lead Content Development/ Mentor

HealthPort

OXYGEN CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Service and repair of oxygen concentrators.

Learn more about the Oxygen Challenge and why repairing and maintaining oxygen concentrators in low-resource hospitals expands access to medical oxygen - a key treatment for pneumonia, malaria, sepsis, meningitis, and Covid-19.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

HealthPort improves access to medical oxygen through digitized clinician support and oxygen equipment asset management.

HealthPort is a health tech venture improving access to quality medical care by using digitized solutions to efficiently manage care delivery and resource availability in low-resource settings. Using low-cost solutions, we intend to improve oxygen access and hypoxemia outcomes by strengthening capacity among local biomedical technicians, improving clinician ability to assess oxygen needs using simple quality improvement interventions, and medical asset management for rural healthcare facilities in Nigeria.

The HealthPort solution focuses on improving care delivery skill sets and establishes a foundation for digital medical device assets management. Maintaining oxygen concentrators under our distribution model will improve access to medical oxygen and increase prioritization of low flow oxygen needs.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train 10 biomedical technicians to service 50 Oxygen concentrators, reaching 1,000 patients during the pilot phase.

• Improve clinician ability to assess oxygen need by 80% and decrease hypoxemia related mortality in regions where we work by 20-40%.

• Raise an additional $20,000 within 3 Months

FOUNDING TEAM

Aishat Adeniji - Co-Founder/Clinical Operations Lead

Oladeji Sofoluke - Co-Founder/ Health Center Relations

James Adebayo - Biotechnician

OxyMed Global Solution

OXYGEN CHALLENGE; THE GAMBIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Service and repair of oxygen concentrators.

Learn more about the Oxygen Challenge and why repairing and maintaining oxygen concentrators in low-resource hospitals expands access to medical oxygen - a key treatment for pneumonia, malaria, sepsis, meningitis, and Covid-19.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

OxyMed Global Solution improves access to medical oxygen The Gambia by repairing and maintaining existing oxygen concentrators. The pilot will be based in two rural health facilities in The Gambia.

The OxyMed model is focused on recruiting and training biomedical technologists while providing them with the necessary tools and resources to carry out commissioning, repairs, and preventive maintenance on oxygen concentrators. In addition, a comprehensive use and user maintenance training will be conducted for nurses to enhance the proper usage and productivity, and an asset management database will be deployed to keep track of all information related to service and maintenance record. This data could eventually be used for future decision making by both health facilities and OxyMed.

A minimum stock of replacement parts will be kept supporting immediate need for replacement parts, thus minimize equipment downtime. OxyMed will also support Health facilities managements in equipment pre-purchase advice and a replacement plan for machine that have reached economic useful life. A dedicated local representative for each facility will be trained to serve as first line support on basic user maintenance.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Increase access to medical oxygen for up to 300 patients in rural health facilities within the three-month pilot

• Ensure that 90% of the 20-25 concentrators supported in the pilot are in good working condition

• Reduce the cost burden on oxygen cylinders purchased by health facilities by 20%

• Reach 6,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

FOUNDING TEAM

Ebrima Nyassi - Executive Director

Ismaila A Jallow - Program Director

Health for All Initiative

SAYANA PRESS CHALLENGE; MALAWI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sayana Press injectable contraceptive.  

Learn more about the Sayana®  Press Challenge and why training health providers to administer Sayana® Press can be particularly valuable for women who prefer injectable contraceptives but don’t have regular access.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Health for All Initiative (HAI) distributes low-cost self-injectable contraceptives to adolescent girls and women in Malawi.

The Initiative will identify groups of adolescent girls and women and increase awareness about Sayana Press by addressing cultural and religious beliefs that affect family planning uptake. Motivated community health workers (CHWs) in targeted districts and communities will be trained in counseling, storage and handling of Sayana Press, and behavior change activities to decrease stigma and promote knowledge about contraception for women. Coordination with community leaders and healthcare officials will enable widespread awareness campaigns and access to Sayana Press. Regular focus groups and collaboration with other NGOs will improve understanding of successes and drawbacks of our model and feedback will be integrated as we continue to expand our project. Health for All Initiative believes tackling the root cause of low contraceptive uptake will help in scaling up the distribution of Sayanna Press.

Health for all Initiative was founded in 2021 by Jemimah Nyirongo, Albert Kaonga, and Madeleine Dirmaco, Leonard Mndala and Madeline Stark.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Provide 500 women with access to Sayana Press during the three-month pilot

• Reach 4,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

• Reach 10,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Jemimah Nyirongo - Executive Director

Madeleine Dimarco - Fundraising & Marketing Director

Leonard Mndala - Implementation Director

Madeline Stark - Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor

Albert Kaonga - Operations & Quality Improvement Director

Open Health Network

SAYANA PRESS CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sayana Press injectable contraceptive.  

Learn more about the Sayana®  Press Challenge and why training health providers to administer Sayana® Press can be particularly valuable for women who prefer injectable contraceptives but don’t have regular access.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Open Health Network distributes Sayana Press to underserved women in Uganda.

The distribution model involves Community Health Workers (CHWs) delivering Sayana press (DMPA) to underserved women in Uganda. The pilot phase of the project is being implemented in the rural district of Kisoro, located in southwestern Uganda. Open Health Network trains participating CHWs using a cascade and incentive-based approach. These CHWs then provide comprehensive family planning information, distribute Sayana Press, and teach consenting women how to self-inject. A team of 10 CHWs is supervised and technically supported by a licensed Nursing Officer or Midwife at the public health facility within their catchment.

To ensure women's continuation of contraception, Open Health Network seeks husbands' support, encourage self-injection, and translate user guides into local languages and distribute the same to trained women. The team works with medicines supervisors at targeted health facilities to support projections, quantification, ordering, and transportation of Sayana Press to resolve the challenge of consistent stock-outs. The scale-up strategy is based on the involvement of private clinics and drug shops, village women groups, and early adopters to reach over 200,000 underserved women in the next two years at a minimum cost.

Open Health network was founded in the year 2021 by a team of 4 enthusiastic social entrepreneurs: Mushime Moses, Kakeeto Henry, Mukeshimana Meridah, and Gerald Rukundo. Moses serves as a full-time executive director; Henry as a Grants and fundraising Manager; while Meridah services as the community advocacy Officer. Dr. Gerald serves as the capacity building officer responsible for the capacity building of CHWs and quality assurance.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Provide 1,000 women with access to Sayana Press during the pilot

• Raise $400,000 within the first two years

• Reach 10,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

• Reach 20,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Mushime Moses - Executive Director

Kakeeto Henry - Grants and Partnerships Manager

Rukundo Gerald - Capacity Building Officer

Mukeshimana Meridah - Advocacy Officer

GLOMED Technologies

OXYGEN CHALLENGE; GHANA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Service and repair of oxygen concentrators.

Learn more about the Oxygen Challenge and why repairing and maintaining oxygen concentrators in low-resource hospitals expands access to medical oxygen - a key treatment for pneumonia, malaria, sepsis, meningitis, and Covid-19.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

GLOMED Technologies improves the accessibility of medical oxygen through the servicing and maintenance of medical oxygen concentrators in Ghana, beginning in the Ashanti Region.

GLOMED Technologies ensures that each and every concentrator under its technical care is working throughout its lifespan. This will ensure that patients get access to high grade medical oxygen at affordable rates thereby increasing the accessibility of oxygen to all patients irrespective of their economic background.

GLOMED Technologies was founded by Thomas Kwame Duah and David Opoku who are all professional biomedical engineers and supported by Ing. Faustina Adu-Poku and Ing. Tuffour Gyekye Ampem. The team consists of professional clinical engineers with much experience in the maintenance and management of medical equipment.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Service and maintain 20 oxygen concentrators within the three-month pilot

• Directly reach 430 patients with medical oxygen within the three-month pilot

• Raise an additional $30,00 from new donors and investors within the three-month pilot

• Reach 5,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

FOUNDING TEAM

Thomas Kwame Duah - Director of Sales and Marketing

David Opoku - Director of Operations

Ing. Tuffour Ampem Gyekye - Technical Supervisor

Ing. Faustina Adu-Poku - Finance Manager

Girls Hub

SAYANA PRESS CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sayana Press injectable contraceptive.  

Learn more about the Sayana®  Press Challenge and why training health providers to administer Sayana® Press can be particularly valuable for women who prefer injectable contraceptives but don’t have regular access.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Girls Hub is a youth-led feminist NGO addressing the unmet need for family planning for underserved populations in rural Nigeria.

Contraception is a powerful tool in combating poverty and with a tremendous range of health benefits, including maternal and infant survival, nutrition, and educational attainment. To increase women's access to contraceptive services in Nigeria, Girls Hub will empower Community Health Workers (CHWs) to deliver Sayana Press, an injectable contraception to women and girls in remote areas. To achieve scale and cover more marginalized women and girls across communities, Girls Hub will also consider the training of community–based distributors or clients themselves in addition to strengthening supply chain for Sayana Press in rural communities.

Girls Hub was founded in 2020 by Isaac Ejakhegbe and Osemudiame Ejakhegbe. Other team members include Dr. Mary Ama Blankson and Mr. Okhea Kelly Relobhegbe.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Provide 1,500 women with access to Sayana Press during the pilot

• Train 50 Community Health Workers during the pilot

• Reach 5,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

• Reach 10,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Isaac Ejakhegbe - Founder

Osemudiame Ejakhegbe - Co-founder

Dr. Mary Ama Blankson - Program Officer

Okhea Kelly Relobhegbe - MEL Officer

YeneHealth

SAYANA PRESS CHALLENGE; ETHIOPIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sayana Press injectable contraceptive.  

Learn more about the Sayana®  Press Challenge and why training health providers to administer Sayana® Press can be particularly valuable for women who prefer injectable contraceptives but don’t have regular access.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

YeneHealth's mission is to reach, educate, and enhance women’s confidence in the use of contraceptives with the goal of addressing the unmet need for family planning in Ethiopia. YeneHealth’s pilot and first two years of operations focuses on reaching women living in the Addis Ketema region.

The YeneHealth model is based on three core elements which will be delivered through digital technology and trusted Urban Health Extension Workers.

1. Education and Awareness: Content we will disseminate on a web-based/mobile platform

2. Access to Contraceptive(s) (Sayana Press): Partnership-based distribution channel with Urban Health Extension Workers

3. R&D: Data collection system and analytics to inform our distribution operations and support resource allocation in alignment with Ethiopia’s Family Planning 2030 (data-informed policy advocacy)

The YeneHealth model strives to engage women directly, learn rapidly, iterate to improve, and fast-track to reach economies of scale.

YeneHealth is founded by Kidist Tesfaye who is a young social-entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the healthcare, education, and start-up ecosystem for over a decade. She holds a Masters degree in Education/Entrepreneurship from Harvard University and a Bachelors degree in Public Health, Global Studies and Strategic Communications from the University of Minnesota.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Provide 200 women with access to Sayana Press and enroll them in the digital platform during the pilot

• Fundraise a minimum of $100,000 from new donors or investors in the first year of operations

• Reach 3,750 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

• Reach 62,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Kidist Tesfaye - Founder

Elevate Health Uganda

VMMC CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC).

Learn more about the VMMC Challenge and why scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision can substantially reduce the rate of HIV acquisition for men, and also reduce the risk of transmission of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) to the men’s partners.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Elevate Health Uganda (EHU) is a community-based organization that aims to improve uptake of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention in hard-to-reach rural areas in Amuru district, Northern Uganda.

EHU uses the DAQs model - Demand creation, Accessibility improvement, and strengthening Quality referrals, linkage, and post-surgery follow-up. The model fuses strategies focusing on community, health facility, and quality improvement which are instrumental for a holistic approach in addressing health challenges and a platform for engaging a multi-sector approach. The lessons learned from this pilot phase will be used to scale up best practices, and cost-efficient strategies to 8 other districts in Northern Uganda.

Elevate Health Uganda was founded in 2021 by a team passionate to contribute to individuals, families, and communities having equitable access to quality health care services. Anna Lawino is the Executive Director, Stephan Kalyesubula is the Strategic Information Director, and Brenda Picho serves as Project Director.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 200 men with the service during the pilot

• Raise an additional $10,000 during the pilot

FOUNDING TEAM

Anna Lawino - Managing Director

Stephan Kalyesubula - Strategic Information Director

Brenda Picho - Project Director

Water4Life

CHLORINE DISPENSER CHALLENGE; BENIN

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Point-of-use chlorine dispensers

Learn more about the Chlorine Challenge and other D-Prize Distribution Challenges.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Water for Life (Water4Life) increases access to clean and safe water through the promotion of chlorine dispensers to prevent waterborne diseases in the most vulnerable communities in Benin.

The dispenser system consists of three components: (i) A dispenser hardware installed next to a communal water source; (ii) community education done by a local promoter; (iii) ongoing supply of chlorine refills. The Water4Life distribution model is innovative, unique, cost-effective and suitable for the local context. The venture plans to install 15 dispensers and reach 4,500 beneficiaries in the commune of Natitingou in Atacora department during the 3-month pilot, scaling to at least 540 dispensers and 194,355 beneficiaries (spread throughout all the departments of Northern Benin and three other departments in Southern Benin) in the next five years. The venture aims to reduce diarrhea rates by at least 40% among target communities over the next five years. In the next 10 year, Water4Life will reach all the departments of Benin and extend to other countries in West Africa such as Togo, Mali and Burkina-Faso.

Water4Life’s team is composed of highly motivated fellows who have successfully implemented several other community development projects in Benin and Uganda. The team is led by Melas Cayrol Adoko, an African Union Youth Volunteer who serves as the Executive Director and Co-founder. He is assisted by Younoussa Abossouka who is the Supply Chain Manager.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Install 15 chlorine dispensers reaching 4,500 beneficiaries during the three-month pilot

• Raise an additional $112,000 during the three-month pilot

• Reach 22,000 beneficiaries by the end of year 1 

FOUNDING TEAM

Melas Cayrol Adoko - Executive Director & Co-founder

Younoussa Abbosouka - Supply Chain Manager