Launch of Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) for Tanzania
HDIF and the Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) officially launched the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) for Tanzania
Picture taken at the launch of the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) one of the DFID projects in Tanzania
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 12th May 2014 – Today HDIF and the Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) officially launched the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) for Tanzania. HDIF is a five-year £30 million, UK Government supported, challenge fund for innovation to create social impact in education, health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) across Tanzania. The first round of funding for HDIF will open Tuesday 13 May 2014.
Dr. Marshall Elliott, Head of DFID Tanzania, said of the, “Africa is changing fast. There are new technologies and new approaches that are revolutionising how people live – and creating opportunities that we would not have dreamt of a decade ago. The UK government is delighted to support Tanzania in taking this agenda forward through the Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) which will provide support to COSTECH and funds to implement innovative ideas that have the best chance of really making a difference. By supporting efforts to do things better, cheaper or on a bigger scale we hope HDIF will help to deliver transformative change in Tanzania’s education, health and water systems.”
HDIF seeks to fund projects which promote innovation to improve delivery, quality, value-for-money and sustainability of basic services in these three key sectors. It will do this by providing grants to organisations seeking to develop and test new models of service delivery, supporting the use of new technologies, through the establishment of new partnerships, and encouraging the involvement of new providers.
At the launch event, which was hosted by COSTECH, the Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Gharib Bilal expressed the need for innovation in basic services, saying, “It is estimated that 21.6 million people do not have access to safe water. This is nearly half of the population, whilst over 40 million people do not have access to adequate sanitation.”
Working in close partnership with COSTECH, HDIF also aims to transform the innovation eco-system by providing technical assistance and promoting active knowledge sharing and management.
Dr. Hassan Mshinda, Director General of COSTECH, stated, “At COSTECH we believe in and actively support innovation across Tanzania. With the assistance of HDIF we will be able to widen our reach to ensure that all people in society can benefit from the growing innovation eco-system in Tanzania.”
HDIF, which is managed by a GRM International consortium, will open its first round of funding 13 May 2014 and its final round in 2015. Both funding rounds will have opportunities for both pilot projects and innovations which are tested and ready to be scaled-up. The grants and technical support will run through September 2018.
Mr. David McGinty, the HDIF Team Leader said, “We encourage organisations that understand ‘business as usual’ will not solve Tanzania’s challenges in delivering basic services to apply for HDIF funding. Therefore, we would like to invite private-for-profit organisations, private-not-for-profit organisations or NGOs, social entrepreneurs, quasi-governmental organisations, and other non-state actors either involved or interested in the delivery of quality pro-poor services to find out more about how together we can be the catalyst for change in Tanzania”.
The launch of HDIF is a formal call for all interested organisations to get in touch and learn more about applying for grants by visiting the HDIF website, hdif-tz.org and through following HDIF on Twitter @HDIFtz with the hashtag: #InnovationTZ.