STI FORUM CALL FOR INNOVATIONS

CRITERIA AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

#1: You haven't already submitted an innovation for consideration for the STI Forum 2021. Only one innovation should be submitted per person.

#2: Your innovation has not been showcased at past STI Forum events. See the list here. If your innovation has already been featured at past events, it will not be selected again this year.

#3: Innovations that have been effective in addressing any indirect impacts of COVID-19 in a developing country as opposed to direct response (i.e. vaccine development, rapid testing, personal protective equipment (PPE)). For this Call, we are looking for innovations that fit into one of the below categories:

1. Innovations that focus on essential nutrition and healthcare services, particularly HIV, tuberculosis, and maternal, newborn and child healthcare services. (SDG 2 & SDG 3)
   
   
2. Education innovations to reduce the inequalities COVID-19 has placed on students from low socioeconomic households. (SDG 4)
   
   
3. Innovations that respond or prevent gender-based violence or intimate partner violence (SDG 5). 
   
   
4. Innovations that focus on vulnerable and marginalized populations that have been hit hardest by the pandemic including older persons, persons with disabilities, children, women, migrants and refugees, and indigenous populations (SDG 1, SDG 10). 

#4: Locally-led Innovations that are providing impactful solutions with the potential to create sustained change in the communities that they serve. We are not interested in innovations that are “top-down” or “solutions looking for a problem” but instead innovations that have been developed by local innovators or implemented in partnership with local ecosystem partners, and in consultation with potential end-users. If the innovation is shortlisted or selected, we may ask to speak to the ecosystem partners.

#5: A concrete vision and plan to scale the innovation so it continues to be relevant and useful beyond the pandemic in providing longer-term support in helping achieve one or more of the SDGs. The innovation may address a different SDG post-pandemic than the indirect impact it addressed during the pandemic.

Innovations must meet each of the above criteria to qualify for the Call for innovations. 

Some examples of the type of innovations that we are not looking for:

- Innovations for rapid testing and detection including both molecular and immunological tests

- Vaccine development

- Personal Protective Equipment like masks and face shields. 

The above are some examples of the type of innovations that we are NOT looking for. Other innovations that are either for direct response to COVID-19, or those that do not address at least one of the indirect impacts of COVID-19, or otherwise do not meet the criteria above, will not be considered for the Call.

3-step process to submit your innovation for consideration:

 - Step 1: Confirm that you meet the criteria above for the STI Forum 2021 Call for Innovations. 

 - Step 2: Fill out this form for submission. 

 - Step 3 (Optional): Strengthen your Global Innovation Exchange (GIE) innovation profile*. 

* Global Innovation Exchange (GIE), managed by Results for Development, supports the scale-up of development innovations and features more than 17,000+ innovation profiles. Although not required, your Global Innovation Exchange (GIE) innovation profile can be used as an additional reference by the reviewers of the STI Forum 2021 Call for Innovations. Click here for instructions on how to add/update your GIE innovation profile.