The rapid advancements of technology and innovation have spurred economic growth in Southeast Asia.
However, based on a study by UNESCAP, 21% of the regions’ households continue to live below the poverty line. The path to growth has led to greater disparities in income and social condition, leaving less developed communities excluded from the process and the benefits of innovation.
With this, there is an increasing need for Innovations for Inclusive Development (IID), which is “innovation that reduces poverty and enables all groups of people, especially the poor and vulnerable, to participate in decision-making, create and actualize opportunities, and share the benefits of development” (IID Program Prospectus, IDRC, 2011).
In support of the growing movement towards Innovation for Inclusive Development, the IID Challenge Grants Program, is being launched by the Universities and Councils Network on Innovation for Inclusive
Development in Southeast Asia (UNIID-SEA), in partnership with the National Research Councils of the Philippines, National Research Council of Indonesia, National Research Council of Thailand, and the National Council for Science and Technology Policy of Vietnam, and supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
The IID Challenge Grants Program will award grants up to USD 15,730 in each country (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) to support action researches that offer innovative solutions to poverty and exclusion issues faced by a partner community.
Through the IID Challenge Grants Program, poor and informal communities are given an opportunity to collaborate in designing and implementing solutions for social problems. The IID Challenge is seeking to identify inclusive innovations in the areas of food security, low-cost energy and clean water, health, natural resource management and climate change adaptation, and human security and development.
Form a team, and submit a proposal today! Visit http://uniid-sea.net/iidchallenge for more program details. For inquiries, kindly email [email protected], or call our project personnel at the Ateneo School of Government via telephone numbers +63 2 426 6001 local 4639 (trunkline) or +63 2 929 7035 (telefax).
