Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA OAA 11 000006
Apply for RFA OAA 11 000006
- The USAID in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "A Grand Challenge for Development" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001 USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas.
- This funding opportunity was created on May 9, 2011 and posted on Mar 22, 2011.
- Applicants must submit their applications by May 9, 2011 Close date and time have been extended to May 9, 2011, 600pm (EST).. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $16,250,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
- This RFA is not open to individuals or Government entities.
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Opportunity Summary:
Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development (Funding Opportunity Number RFA OAA 11 000006) is a USAID-led grant competition created in partnership with the Government of Norway, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and the World Bank. The opportunity targets one of the most dangerous and under-served windows in maternal and newborn health: labor, delivery, and the early postnatal period, especially the first two days after birth. The funders point to the large and persistent global burden each year (about 3.2 million stillbirths, 3.6 million neonatal deaths, and 360,000 maternal deaths) and argue that progress has lagged most during the time around childbirth, when both mothers and babies are most vulnerable. The problem is described as even more severe in poor, rural, hard-to-reach communities and among disadvantaged women, where conventional health system approaches often do not reach the people who need them most.
The core purpose of the grant is to identify and rapidly support bold, “leapfrog” innovations that can prevent deaths and improve outcomes for pregnant women and newborns in low-resource settings. The solicitation emphasizes that incremental improvements are not enough; it is looking for ideas that are ambitious but feasible and that could produce transformational impact at the community level. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate modern advances in science, technology, communications, and behavior change to produce solutions that work despite constraints like limited infrastructure, shortages of skilled providers, distance from facilities, and affordability barriers. Beyond inventing or testing a promising approach, the opportunity also stresses the importance of understanding how innovations can be scaled and sustained, including by drawing on private sector expertise to deploy solutions effectively over time.
The challenge area is organized into three broad domains of innovation. First is science and technology, which includes new or improved tools, devices, diagnostics, treatments, or other technical breakthroughs relevant to safe pregnancy, delivery, and newborn care in low-resource environments. Second is service delivery innovation, meaning new ways to organize, deliver, or integrate care so that essential services actually reach mothers and newborns when and where they are needed, including in remote communities. Third is demand-side innovation, focused on empowering pregnant women and families to adopt healthy behaviors, recognize danger signs, and seek or access care during pregnancy, childbirth, and immediately after birth. The demand-side focus highlights the reality that even when services exist, social norms, information gaps, cost, distance, or lack of agency can prevent timely care-seeking.
Funding is structured to move ideas quickly from concept to wider use through two streams. Seed Funds are intended to demonstrate proof of concept for early-stage, high-risk, potentially high-reward ideas. Transition Funds are designed to help successful innovations move beyond pilots and toward scale-up, bridging the gap between promising results and broader deployment. Overall, the initiative frames these awards as investments in innovations that could be scaled to dramatically and sustainably reduce maternal deaths, newborn deaths, stillbirths, and poor birth outcomes for millions of people living in the hardest-to-reach settings.
Administratively, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the health category (CFDA 98.001, USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas). USAID anticipated roughly 30 awards with an estimated total funding amount of $16,250,000. Individual award sizes were expected to range from a floor of $250,000 to a ceiling of $2,000,000, and the solicitation stated there was no cost sharing or matching requirement. Eligibility was broadly open to organizations rather than restricted to a narrow applicant type, but it explicitly excluded individuals and government entities. The call encouraged applications from for-profit companies, nongovernmental organizations, academic and medical research institutions, faith-based organizations, civic groups, and foundations, either independently or in partnership. The posting date was March 22, 2011, with the closing date extended to May 9, 2011 at 6:00 pm Eastern, and an archive date of June 30, 2011.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the "Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development" funding opportunity?
Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development is a USAID-led grant competition (Funding Opportunity Number RFA OAA 11 000006) designed to identify and rapidly support bold innovations that can prevent deaths and improve outcomes for pregnant women and newborns in low-resource settings, particularly around childbirth.
Who is leading and partnering on this grant competition?
The competition is led by USAID and created in partnership with the Government of Norway, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and the World Bank.
What health window or time period is this opportunity focused on?
The opportunity targets labor, delivery, and the early postnatal period, with special emphasis on the first two days after birth, described as one of the most dangerous and under-served windows in maternal and newborn health.
Why does the program focus so heavily on the time around childbirth?
The funders state that progress has lagged most during the time around childbirth, when both mothers and babies are most vulnerable. They also point to a large and persistent global burden each year: about 3.2 million stillbirths, 3.6 million neonatal deaths, and 360,000 maternal deaths.
Which communities or settings are prioritized?
The problem is described as especially severe in poor, rural, hard-to-reach communities and among disadvantaged women, where conventional health system approaches often do not reach those who need them most. The solicitation emphasizes low-resource environments and constraints like limited infrastructure, shortages of skilled providers, distance from facilities, and affordability barriers.
What is the main purpose of this grant opportunity?
The core purpose is to identify and rapidly support bold, "leapfrog" innovations that can prevent deaths and improve outcomes for pregnant women and newborns in low-resource settings.
What does "leapfrog innovation" mean in this solicitation?
Based on the solicitation language, the program is not seeking incremental improvements. It is looking for ideas that are ambitious but feasible and that could produce transformational impact at the community level.
What kinds of approaches are applicants encouraged to use?
Applicants are encouraged to incorporate modern advances in science, technology, communications, and behavior change to develop solutions that work despite common constraints in low-resource settings.
Does the opportunity care only about invention, or also about scale and sustainability?
It stresses both. In addition to inventing or testing promising approaches, the solicitation highlights the importance of understanding how innovations can be scaled and sustained over time, including drawing on private sector expertise to deploy solutions effectively.
What are the main innovation domains or challenge areas?
The challenge is organized into three broad domains: (1) science and technology, (2) service delivery innovation, and (3) demand-side innovation.
What is included under the science and technology domain?
Science and technology includes new or improved tools, devices, diagnostics, treatments, or other technical breakthroughs relevant to safe pregnancy, delivery, and newborn care in low-resource environments.
What is meant by service delivery innovation?
Service delivery innovation refers to new ways to organize, deliver, or integrate care so that essential services reach mothers and newborns when and where they are needed, including in remote communities.
What is meant by demand-side innovation?
Demand-side innovation focuses on empowering pregnant women and families to adopt healthy behaviors, recognize danger signs, and seek or access care during pregnancy, childbirth, and immediately after birth. The solicitation notes that even when services exist, social norms, information gaps, cost, distance, or lack of agency can prevent timely care-seeking.
How is funding structured in this opportunity?
Funding is structured through two streams designed to move ideas quickly from concept to wider use: Seed Funds and Transition Funds.
What are Seed Funds intended to support?
Seed Funds are intended to demonstrate proof of concept for early-stage, high-risk, potentially high-reward ideas.
What are Transition Funds intended to support?
Transition Funds are designed to help successful innovations move beyond pilots and toward scale-up, bridging the gap between promising results and broader deployment.
What outcomes is the initiative aiming to achieve at scale?
The initiative frames these awards as investments in innovations that could be scaled to dramatically and sustainably reduce maternal deaths, newborn deaths, stillbirths, and poor birth outcomes for millions of people living in the hardest-to-reach settings.
What type of grant opportunity is this?
This is described as a discretionary grant opportunity in the health category.
What is the CFDA number and program name associated with this opportunity?
The opportunity is listed under CFDA 98.001, USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas.
How many awards were anticipated, and what was the estimated total funding?
USAID anticipated roughly 30 awards, with an estimated total funding amount of $16,250,000.
What is the expected range of individual award sizes?
Individual award sizes were expected to range from a floor of $250,000 to a ceiling of $2,000,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The solicitation stated there was no cost sharing or matching requirement.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility was broadly open to organizations rather than restricted to a narrow applicant type. The call encouraged applications from for-profit companies, nongovernmental organizations, academic and medical research institutions, faith-based organizations, civic groups, and foundations, either independently or in partnership.
Who is not eligible to apply?
The opportunity explicitly excluded individuals and government entities.
Can organizations apply in partnership or as a consortium?
Yes. The solicitation encouraged applications submitted independently or in partnership.
When was the opportunity posted?
The posting date was March 22, 2011.
What was the application deadline?
The closing date was extended to May 9, 2011 at 6:00 pm Eastern.
When was the opportunity archived?
The archive date was June 30, 2011.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this solicitation?
The Funding Opportunity Number is RFA OAA 11 000006.
What problem does the solicitation say conventional approaches often fail to address?
It states that conventional health system approaches often do not reach the people who need them most, particularly in poor, rural, hard-to-reach communities and among disadvantaged women.
What barriers are innovations expected to work around?
The solicitation highlights constraints such as limited infrastructure, shortages of skilled providers, distance from facilities, and affordability barriers, as well as demand-side barriers like social norms, information gaps, cost, distance, and lack of agency.
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