NAXA and Rumsan, two startups from Nepal, have been awarded the GSMA Innovation Fund for Anticipatory Humanitarian Action for this year. GSMA Innovation Fund is a prestigious program that supports solutions that use mobile digital technology to anticipate and respond to humanitarian crises effectively.
These two startups were selected for their innovative solutions that can help prevent and reduce the impact of humanitarian crises, improve readiness for sudden disasters, enable respectful and inclusive communication and assistance during and after a crisis, and anticipate the occurrence and consequences of crises enabling faster and more effective responses.
Out of 143 eligible applications, only eight organizations were chosen for the GSMA Innovation Fund this year. It is a remarkable achievement that two of the winners are from Nepal.
Announcing the GSMA Innovation Fund winners on its website, GSMA writes:
NAXA
NAXA will develop and scale a disaster management platform, “DASTAA” to flood prone wards of Mahakali basin with the aim of enhancing anticipatory actions and to reduce the impacts of disaster at the household level. The solution will provide near real time weather monitoring and early warnings in flood prone areas, enabling local humanitarian agencies to take informed decisions for cash and voucher disbursement.
Rahat (by Rumsan)
Rumsan will aim to build and pilot a multi-
GSMA Innovation Fundsignature based anticipatory action programme in an existing mobile technology cash and voucher assistance (CVA) platform. The solution will enable timely distribution of CVA to affected populations before and during a natural disaster.
However, GSMA has not disclosed how much fund it is providing to each of these winners.
Over the course of the grant, GSMA will support these organizations to strengthen their anticipatory action efforts across the country. Alongside funding, GSMA will support the selected organizations and their solutions through the following activities:
- Providing knowledge, expertise or best practices on the application of digital tools in the humanitarian space.
- Networking and learning exchange opportunities with other GSMA Innovation Fund grantees and alumni.
- Providing technical support through regular sessions on human-centred design, mobile network operator engagement and marketing guidance.
- Monitoring, evaluation and learning technical assistance, through a dedicated learning partner, to evidence project impact.
- Financial reporting support throughout the duration of the grant.
- Facilitating relationships with mobile operators, humanitarian organisations, and public sector organisations, where relevant.
- Offering opportunities to increase grantee visibility and showcase them to potential partners through profiling their innovative work in GSMA publications and in industry-leading events.
Previously, eSewa and Tootle were selected for GSMA Innovation Fund from Nepal. eSewa is the leading digital wallet in Nepal, whereas Tootle is a ride-sharing platform..
