Part of the AstraZeneca Young Health Programme (YHP) Step Up! provides grants of up to US$10,000 to help small, innovative, youth-focused non-profits develop and deliver effective health promotion programmes – with an emphasis on under-resourced and marginalized communities in low- and middle-income countries.
In particular, we wish to ensure the next generation of formal and informal healthcare workers can increase their knowledge of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors and prevention strategies, and create practical methods to increase equitable access to training, employment and entrepreneurship in NCD prevention.
To further our commitment to gender equity, in 2022 we will award 50% of grants to projects which are women-led (either one person, or a group of people with the majority being female/identifying as female), with a preference for young women leaders (18-35 years old).
Grants available
Grants of up to USD $10,000 will be awarded to support the delivery of approximately 20 projects which:
- strengthen health systems
- improve equitable access
- enable the next generation of young healthcare leaders (age 18-35) to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among young people (age 10-30 years)
- can be completed within a 12 month period, not starting before January 2023
In addition to the funding, Step Up! grantees will be invited to join AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme (YHP) Alumni Group. This offers learning and development opportunities, as well as networking between Step Up! grantees and young leaders who have received YHP Scholarships.
In the past, Alumni Members have been offered mini-MBA programmes, opportunities to share their work with global audiences, and masterclasses on fundraising and digital skills to build effective health-promotion programmes.
Who can apply
The fund is open to registered non-profit or charitable organisations with strong experience of working with young people to increase awareness of NCD risk factors and NCD prevention strategies.
Organisations must have been registered and operational for at least 3 full years, and have had total reported income in the last financial year of more than USD $50,000 and less than USD $1,000,000.
Organisations must be ‘funding-ready’ and able to provide appropriate documentation (in English) to verify their organisation’s charitable status, governance and financial situation.
Organisations which have been funded previously by AstraZeneca are welcome to apply, but not for the same project that was previously supported.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to support every organisation that applies and we will choose those projects which most closely fulfil the priorities listed below.
Step Up! Priorities
Step Up! always receives a high number of applications and we are unable to support all eligible organisations which apply.
In selecting applications, we will prioritise a project if it:
- aims to prevent NCDs among young people
- empowers young healthcare leaders to address the primary risk factors – tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and exposure to air pollution - that contribute to NCDs
- develops the knowledge and capacity of future healthcare leaders (under 35 years old) through NCD prevention education. This might include working with medical students, community health workers, caregivers,
Reporting on your project and use of the grant
If you receive a Step Up! grant, we want to understand what has been achieved during your project and find out more about your innovative approaches to these health challenges. We are interested in both what has gone well and what has not worked. We will ask you to provide:
- a receipt for the funds received
- after the end of your project, a detailed report on what you have done, who you have worked with, the difference you have made and what you have learned. or young people following a healthcare career pathway.
- is sustainable (eg can be scaled up or implemented in other communities/settings)
- is working to improve equitable access for diverse members of the community
- can show existing partnerships at a local level which will lead to a strengthened local or national health systems
- is run by an organisation with the income and capacity to deliver a grant of this size
- is structured to provide evidence at the conclusion of the project of what has been delivered, outcomes for young people, and what has been learned in preventing NCDs
Our aim is that 50% of funding will be awarded to women-led projects.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.