Grand Challenges Canada’s Global Mental Health program supports Bold Ideas with Big Impact® The program focuses on funding high impact innovations that improve treatments and/or expand access to care for people, especially youth, living with or at risk of mental disorder.

The Problem

Mental disorders contribute to 14 percent of the global burden of disease worldwide; 75 percent of this burden occurs in low- and middle-income countries. Individuals living with mental disorders in these regions experience a scarcity of resources and a shortage of trained professionals, limiting their access to evidence-based treatments. Strategies to identify and treat mental health challenges that are successful in high-income countries are often impractical, ineffective, and too resource-intensive to succeed in lower resource regions. Support for mental health services in low- and middle-income countries consistently lags behind other health priorities, despite the fact that mental illness is a prominent global health concern.

Youth Mental Health

The global mental health burden is magnified for youth living in low resources settings. The majority of mental health disorders – 75 percent – start before the age of 24. Poor mental health in youth negatively impacts the development of social connections, cultural belonging, emotional wellbeing, educational opportunities, and economic resources. Despite these vulnerabilities, only 12.5 percent of development assistance for mental health targets youth. The Global Mental Health seed funding program aims to address the gap in youth mental health services in low- and middle-income countries by funding innovations that enhance mental health literacy and provide youth-friendly services.

Our Approach

The Global Mental Health program will focus on funding high impact innovations that improve treatments and/or expand access to care for people, especially youth, living with or at risk of mental disorders. The program seeks transformational, affordable, and accessible innovations that have the potential to be sustainable at a larger scale.

Impact to Date

Grand Challenges Canada has supported one of the largest portfolios of global mental health innovations in the world, investing over $45.3 million CAD to support 95 projects in 31 countries. The 95 projects are comprised of 64 proofs-of-concept and 31 Transition-to-Scale.

Funding Opportunities

The Global Mental Health program has launched proof-of-concept grants up to $250,000 for innovations that focus on the mental well-being of youth in low- and middle-income countries. We are seeking new ideas that have the potential to transform mental health services available for youth in low-resource settings.

The program will also be extending invitations to innovators that have an already established proof-of-concept to scale-up their mental health innovations through our Transition-to-Scale program.

The program’s seed funding Request for Proposals is now open.

Request for Proposals

The Global Mental Health program is accepting applications for proof-of-concept grants up to $250,000. Applications should focus on new ideas that have the potential to transforms mental health services available for youth, ages 10 to 24, in low- and middle-income countries. The innovative approaches should seek to enhance mental health literacy and/or provide youth-friendly services while accounting for the complex social and environmental factors that contribute to young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Approaches should be culturally sensitive and community-driven.

Submission deadline is Friday, July 17th, 2020 at 3:00 PM (EST)

Request for Proposal – English

Request for Proposal – French

Request for Proposal – Arabic

Request for Proposal – Swahili

Request for Proposal – Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Please review our FAQ document for answers to frequently asked questions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) – English

Start Your Application

Click to start your application on Grand Challenges Canada’s Fluxx Portal. It is recommended you start your application at the latest by July 10th, 2020.

To apply for funding, applicants MUST use the online application provided, which is ONLY accessible via the Grand Challenges Canada’s Fluxx Portal. 

For more details on the FLUXX Portal application process please see the FLUXX Quick Reference Guide.

Additional Questions and Technical Assistance

For questions related to this Request for Proposals that are not addressed in the FAQ, contact globalmentalhealth@grandchallenges.ca

If you require technical assistance with registration or the online application, contact Grand Challenges Canada’s Fluxx Technical Support Team at www.grandchallenges.ca/fluxxsupport/.

Questions 

For any questions or inquiries, please email globalmentalhealth@grandchallenges.ca

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