United Nations WFP Innovative Challenge 2023

Deadline: July 19, 2023

The United Nations has recently launched the latest WFP Innovation Challenge, an initiative dedicated to finding groundbreaking innovations that can make a real difference in providing relief, building resilience, and ultimately eradicating hunger worldwide.

Tragically, more than one in ten people around the globe, totaling over 828 million individuals, continue to experience the heart-wrenching reality of going to bed hungry each night. Alarmingly, the number of individuals facing acute food insecurity has reached an all-time high of 345 million, a significant increase from 135 million in 2019. To compound the crisis, the cost of delivering food assistance has skyrocketed due to the soaring prices of food and fuel. The economic consequences of the pandemic, combined with the effects of climate change and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, have made food inaccessible to millions of people, placing an immense burden on the operations of the World Food Programme (WFP).

In light of these challenges, the WFP Innovation Challenge, led by the United Nations, aims to identify and support innovative social solutions that can tackle the key obstacles in the fight against hunger. The focus is particularly on humanitarian assistance and supply chain resilience, with the overarching goal of maximizing the impact of every donor dollar by addressing hunger effectively and minimizing the need for ration cuts. By harnessing the power of innovation, the United Nations seeks to propel significant advancements in addressing hunger, fostering resilience, and creating lasting change in the lives of those affected.

Together, we can work towards achieving our goal of zero hunger and transform the lives of those who need our help the most. WFP’s current innovation priorities are listed below:

1. Preparedness and Prevention: Innovations that improve our risk assessment, contingency planning, and proactive strategies to facilitate prompt response to safeguard lives and resources during crises. 
2. Effective Relief Assistance: Innovations that enable efficient coordination, targeted assistance, and respect for the dignity and rights of affected communities.
3. Supply Chain Resilience: Innovations that strengthen our supply chains’ ability to withstand and recover from disruptions, ensuring continuous functionality. 

Benefits

The WFP Innovation Accelerator has a track record of organizing 51 flagship innovation bootcamps to date, supporting over 440 teams to rapidly refine their innovations, field testing over 100 solutions within WFP operations, and bringing 22 disruptive social innovations to scale, reaching 37 million people in 2022 alone.
Selected teams:
● will be invited to take part in a three to five days long WFP Innovation Bootcamp and Pitch Event;
● will have the opportunity to apply for the WFP Sprint Programme, a six-month acceleration programme providing up to US$100,000 in equity-free funding, mentorship, and connections to our global field offices in 120 countries and territories;
● may qualify for further funding and support, if they are scaling innovations that have proven their concepts and value for social impact.

SEE ALSO: The United Nations – Nippon Foundation Fellowship 2023

Eligibility Criteria

Applications will be scored according to a standard set of criteria set by the WFP Innovation Accelerator, including:
● alignment with WFP operational priorities and the impact towards the Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger;
● the level of innovation the solution brings to WFP and the humanitarian sector at large; and,
● indicators that the solution can be feasibly integrated and financed in the long-term, including the team qualifications

Application Procedure

To submit your application, please fill in this Application Form before 19 July 2023 11:59 pm (CEST).
● Or, if you know a relevant innovation that you would recommend for this challenge, please let us know by completing this Referral Submission Form.
● We will review and match successful applications with one of our WFP Innovation Bootcamps in the next six months. The next WFP Innovation Bootcamp will be held in November 2023. While we value all applications, we are only able to contact shortlisted applicants.

Application Registration Deadline: 19th July 2023

To Apply: Start-Ups and Companies
WFP Employees
Official Website: Click here