PEPFAR recently announced the launch of a DREAMS Innovation Challenge. The DREAMS Partnership has committed $85 million for innovative solutions that further DREAMS’ commitment to reduce new HIV infections by 40 percent among adolescent girls and young women in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2017. Through the Challenge, DREAMS is seeking to award and implement solutions that further DREAMS' commitment to reduce HIV infections by infusing new thinking and high-impact approaches to meet the urgent, complex needs of adolescent girls and young women in the 10 DREAMS countries – Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Challenge application portal is open. Interested organizations are invited to submit innovative ideas that address six focus areas:
Focus 1: Strengthening capacity of communities for service delivery
Focus 2: Keeping girls in secondary school
Focus 3: Linking men to services
Focus 4: Supporting pre-exposure prophylaxis
Focus 5: Providing a bridge to employment
Focus 6: Applying data to increase impact
DREAMS invites applications from most types of organizations, including for-profit, non-profit, academic organizations, as well as multilateral institutions. To apply, visit the Challenge website (www.dreamschallenge.org) to submit an Expression of Interest by March 28, 2016 at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Applicants selected as finalists will be invited to submit a more detailed Application. The DREAMS Partnership expects to announce Challenge winners in mid-year followed by implementation towards the end of the year.
For more information on the Challenge, please visit www.dreamschallenge.org. If you have any questions, please email DREAMSInnovation@state.gov.