The Save the Children Immunization Accelerator has today opened a second round of applications, inviting organizations in Nigeria and Ethiopia to submit proposals for innovations that tackle entrenched barriers preventing children from receiving vaccinations.

The $1 million initiative, funded through a grant from GSK, was launched in April last year. It is open to community-based organizations, local and national NGOs, research teams, social enterprises and tech companies, who will be eligible for up to $100,000 funding per project, as well as broader technical support tailored to their innovation.

Successful applicants will also be able to pilot their innovation as part of vaccination programmes Save the Children runs, in partnership with GSK, in Ethiopia and Nigeria, focused on reaching ‘zero dose’ children – those who have never received a routine vaccination. There are an estimated 2.1 million children in Nigeria and almost one million in Ethiopia[1] classed as ‘zero dose’. When children aren’t vaccinated, they are left vulnerable to diseases like polio, measles and cholera – all preventable with vaccines.

Ermias Teshome, Save the Children Immunization Accelerator Lead said: 

“As conflicts, climate change, and other global challenges increasingly disrupt vaccination efforts, it’s clear that we need bold, new approaches to protect every child’s right to health. Local innovation plays a critical role in overcoming both supply and demand barriers to immunization. Through the Immunization Accelerator, we are seeking scalable, context-driven solutions. We look forward to receiving fresh applications and ambitious thinking that push the boundaries of what innovation can achieve.”

Thomas Breuer, Chief Global Health Officer at GSK said:

“We are proud to support Save the Children’s leadership in driving innovative, locally led solutions to improve childhood vaccination rates in Ethiopia and Nigeria. The local knowledge and capabilities generated from Save the Children’s Immunization Accelerator, funded through a grant from GSK, are already yielding promising approaches with the potential to help transform health outcomes for children—not only in these regions, but globally. It’s inspiring to see how this initiative is shaping a healthier future, helping us get ahead of disease together.”

Innovators selected in this round will join Ethiopia based HABTech Solutions PLC, who were selected in the first round of submissions. HABTech were awarded almost $100,000 to further a digital innovation, leveraging data analytics and visualization to enhance decision-making and address the challenges associated with zero-dose immunization in Ethiopia. 

Find out more and apply at www.stc-accelerator.org.  To be considered, projects must be at the testing/evidence generation stage of the innovation cycle. The deadline for applications is 27th July 2025.

About Save the Children

Save the Children exists to help every child get the chance of a future they deserve. In more than 100 countries, including the UK, we make sure children stay safe, healthy and learning – finding new ways to reach children who need us most. For a century, we’ve stood up for children’s rights and made sure their voices are heard. With children, for children, we change the future for good. 

For more information visit www.savethechildren.org.uk   
Employment Type

Funding Contract / Consultancy (Project-based)

This opportunity is delivered as a funding partnership, not a salaried position. The grant supports direct project costs only, including:

• Equipment, fieldwork and data collection

• Consumables and research assistance

• Travel to conferences, subsistence, and fees

• Contracted services where necessary (no sub-grants permitted)

• Organizational overheads up to 8% of direct costs

Save the Children is inviting submissions of innovative interventions that address barriers to child immunization in Nigeria or Ethiopia.

Innovations may be on the supply or demand side, be a product, service, approach, or a system change, or be behavioural or educational in nature. The innovation must be at the testing/evidence generation stage of the innovation cycle, with some initial indication of successfully addressing or showing promising work towards addressing a priority immunization barrier.

Your project submission should indicate how funding and support from the Accelerator will enable you to generate new and actionable evidence regarding the effectiveness of your new (or newly applied) approach in addressing an immunization barrier.

Alternatively, if you already have a strong evidence base, your submission should demonstrate how funding and support from the Accelerator will help you advance your innovation to the next stage.

We will not support:

• Projects that lack an innovative component and primarily replicate existing approaches without significant adaptation or novel implementation.

• Concepts that are purely theoretical or have not been tested in any form of practice, pilot, or prior implementation.

• General healthcare interventions that do not specifically address barriers to vaccine access, uptake, or delivery.

• Proposals that rely solely on awareness campaigns without integrating measurable engagement or behaviour change strategies.

Region/Location

Applicants must:

• Be legally registered in Nigeria or Ethiopia

• Conduct their research and/or operations in Nigeria or Ethiopia

• Demonstrate a track record of work in the country of operation

Required Skills

• Applicants must be able to demonstrate the capacity to:

• Deliver innovative interventions that address barriers to immunisation

• Conduct research and/or operations in Nigeria or Ethiopia

• Generate or build on evidence related to immunisation service delivery or uptake

• Use funding to test innovations or progress innovations with existing evidence

• Prepare and submit a budget using the required template

• Note: Applications must be completed in English and submitted through the online form only. Submissions without a completed budget in the template format will be ineligible.

How To Apply

Applications must be submitted online through the application form at

 https://stc-accelerator.org.

Incomplete applications or those submitted without a budget using the provided format will be ineligible. Applicants may only submit one application.