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Alice Emasu is Founder & Executive Director at Terrewode, Uganda. She is the lead innovator in a project in our Stars In Global Health program that aims to improve obstetric fistula awareness and create an advocacy network In Africa, Music, Dance and Drama (MDD) connotes courage, victory and heroism. It is also used to treat trauma and stigma. MDD is food to the ear and medicine for the soul. In African tradition, it is a perfect way to communicate and relevant to the people’s culture. Yet, the international obstetric fistula community has not utilized…in Uganda say; “End Fistula, Save Women’s Dignity.” Obstetric fistula awareness and advocacy network With the support of Grand Challenges Canada and the Government of Canada, I designed an innovative and holistic Obstetric Fistula program model that incorporated Music, Dance and Drama through Terrewode, a national not-for-profit organization which I founded 15 years ago and…the Fistula Soldiery groups actively engaged in the MDD program are women and girls that were successfully treated for fistula and have now taken on MDD to promote awareness and advocacy. Rendering results and generating impact In Teso, a sub-region in Eastern Uganda where the fistula campaign began, funding from Grand Challenges helped to setup…of a diverse volunteer workforce, ensures continued fistula education, while identifying the affected women and referring them for free treatment services. It also ensures a regular follow up of women that reintegrated after successful surgeries. The OFAAN is well recognized and recommended for replication by the Uganda ministry of Health in fistula treatment, social reintegration…

$2.5 million of new seed investments in 10 innovation projects to advance Indigenous gender equality, in partnership with Women and Gender Equality Canada Toronto, May 5, 2021—The Indigenous Innovation Initiative—an Indigenous innovation platform hosted by Grand Challenges Canada—is proud to announce the inaugural grant recipients for its Advancing Indigenous Gender Equality through Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Program. Ten projects, from across the country, are receiving a total of $2.5 million CAD ($250,000 each)…and built on a foundation of Indigenous ways of knowing and being. To do this right, we draw on the guidance of the Indigenous Innovation Council, made up of remarkable Indigenous leaders, Elders and Knowledge Keepers with a strong commitment to community engagement and co-creation. The Indigenous Innovation Initiative would like to acknowledge the invaluable…

…of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University, where she is conducting research on radio and ICTs, public health communication and impact evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa. The “Integrated Approach to Addressing Youth Depression in Malawi and Tanzania” project, funded by Grand Challenges Canada’s Global Mental Health program, is an interesting collaboration between somewhat unlikely partners: Farm Radio…also been engaged in many projects focused on scale because of the nature of radio and mobile phones where you can reach a large number of people for a very low cost. Dr. Kutcher has been instrumental in Canada and in many other counties in integrating mental health curriculum resources into secondary schools, and in…We began the project in central Malawi in 2012, and commenced the second phase in the Kiliminjaro region of Tanzania in 2014.  Early on we faced some significant partnership challenges in Malawi which caused ruptures to our early relationship with key policy makers in the country. As a result we needed to think creatively from…partners. We frequently involved policy makers in carrying out the activities across all of the three segments of our program:  In the radio campaign, policy makers were invited to review the drama scripts, and to sit on national advisory committees that meet quarterly to review the radio program and give suggestions.  For the school program,…improve knowledge and attitudes, but is a platform for young people to advocate for better mental health services. The scale of this platform ensured policy makers sat up and listened. As a result they are ensuring there are separate provisions for youth in their revised policies and plans. For tools to develop policy influence and…

…in the Stars in Global Health program. Every year in Vietnam, thousands of young people leave their homes in the rural areas of the country and migrate to urban centres such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to find work in factories, manufacturing products such as electronics, garments, footwear, and textiles for export. The 2009 Population and Housing Census, Vietnam, showed that 6.6 million people changed their place of residence between 2004 and 2009, an almost 50% increase from…closed by the time they finish work. The hotline was easily accessible at any time of day or night; all the clients had to do was pick up the phone and dial”. The project also opened a website and discussion forum, providing information about the project and a place for visitors to ask questions and…

…Canada has become one of the leading funders of mental health innovation in the world. Through our Global Mental Health program, we have invested over $30M CAD to develop, test and scale over 60 bold ideas to save and improve the lives of those living with common mental, neurological and substance-use disorders in low-resource settings by increasing access to care and effectiveness of treatments. We invest in mental health innovation because we see an opportunity for new solutions to address the tractable challenge that hundreds of millions of people living with mental illness currently cannot access effective care in resource-limited settings. We see…innovations. If you are thinking: “Sounds like the kind of impact I want to enable!”, keep reading. This challenge is too big for the committed yet small group of organizations to tackle alone and I invite others to join us to transform the future for people living with mental health conditions around the world.  Drawing on the collective experience of the Grand Challenges…the nature of innovation, it is needed!) but an ability to execute and troubleshoot efficiently is a necessary component to ensure the big impact of bold ideas. Designed with the users. Mental health users have not yet had a strong voice in how they receive care. This is changing thanks to advocacy groups (see Movement…

The Grand Challenges (GC) Network¹, a family of global partners fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems, today announced a group of more than fifty grant recipients leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the world’s most pressing health challenges. Emerging technologies, such as AI, machine learning, and quantum computing, are transforming the …rapidly transforming healthcare delivery worldwide, streamlining patient information management, enabling remote consultations, and empowering individuals to monitor their health. However, these innovations must be developed by and for communities where global health challenges are most acute, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), for the greatest impact. In recognition of the power of the fast-evolving…