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Grand Challenges for Development
USAID is defining Grand Challenges for Development to focus global attention on specific development outcomes based on transformational, scalable, and sustainable change.
Grand Challenges for Development, housed in the Office of Science and Technology, focuses on removing critical barriers to development progress and facilitates innovative approaches, particularly those based in science and technology. It will encourage a wide array of solvers to focus their attention on developing sustainable, effective solutions and will build a community to support these solvers.
With this, USAID is articulating problem statements, not pre-determined solutions. This approach will inspire foundations, corporations, and individuals to engage in solving these challenges. USAID is likewise committing our resources to finding solutions and scaling them.
The first Grand Challenge for Development, Saving Lives at Birth, was launched in March 2011 and focuses on interventions that can reach and benefit women and newborns in rural, low-resource settings around the time of birth. Innovators from non-governmental organizations, academic and medical research institutions, faith-based organizations, for-profit companies, medical associations, and foundations have submitted more than 600 proposals that have the potential to save lives.
Grand Challenges for Development in Education, Energy, and Agriculture are under development.
Definition
A Grand Challenge for Development is a way to describe a large and solvable problem. It is not just a statement of a problem, but a definable and quantifiable goal that can be achieved over a specified time frame. The goal itself defines the outcomes by which we will measure success.
Solving a Grand Challenge for Development does not necessarily require the creation of new inventions or tools. Rather, solutions may be developed with existing tools and processes in new configurations as well as the development of new knowledge, technologies, or adoption methodologies.
Solutions to Grand Challenges for Development will —
Achieve Scale "Moving the needle" in development requires solutions that can be scaled and the mechanisms
and incentives to achieve impact at scale. Solutions must start with the goal of reaching millions and then
expand from there.
Are Adoptable The most important stakeholders of the Grand Challenges for Development are individuals,
families, and organizations within developing communities. Our approach to Grand Challenges for Development
explicitly acknowledges that development is about meeting demand, not just increasing supply.
Are Sustainable Success requires that scaled solutions be sustainable. Broad-based economic growth depends
on productive collaboration among the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Sustainable development must create
the conditions in which solutions eventually require no outside assistance.
Utilize 21th century infrastructure Solutions to Grand Challenges for Development will often not be achieved by
replicating developed-country models in developing countries. Rather, they will leverage leading edge technology
and low-cost solutions suitable to the local environment.
To learn more about USAID’s Grand Challenges for Development initiative, please visit the public Grand Challenges for Development Web site.
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