What can a 12 x 3 inch sticker do to tackle road accidents in Kenya? As Georgetown University found out, apparently a lot! USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) just announced a $3 million grant at Tech Con 2014to scale Georgetown’s Zusha! project across Kenya and East Africa.
Development Innovation Ventures at USAID is an open competition that finds, tests, and scales breakthrough solutions to the world’s most intractable development challenges. DIV’s model begins by seeking innovative ideas from anyone, anywhere. It then tests the most promising ideas to gather evidence of their impacts and cost-effectiveness relative to traditional approaches, and helps scale those solutions that are proven successful to sustainably reach millions of people without long-term DIV support.
On November 10, 2014, DIV will announce a $3 million dollar, Stage 3 award to researchers from the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development, and Evaluation (gui²de) for their Zusha! project. Zusha! is DIV’s second-ever Stage 3 award and its first award be successfully transitioned through DIV’s innovation pipeline from a pilot grant to be scaled to reach millions of people.
The grant goes to Billy Jack, director of undergraduate studies in the economics department, and James Habyarimana, associate professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy, who co-founded and co-direct the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development and Evaluation, or gui2de.
“We are extremely grateful to our partners at USAID for their continued support of our research,” said Habyarimana. “We hope this inexpensive and effective intervention has a continued significant impact on road safety in East Africa.”
YOURS commends USAID’s focus on Kenya especially since our continued focus on developing the capaicity of Kenyan youth. Read more here.
The grant from USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) supports the third phase of the Zusha! study in Kenya, and expands the project to three other countries – Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
Zusha! represents the first time a project funded by DIV has successfully transitioned from being a pilot program to reaching millions of people. DIV is an open competition supporting breakthrough solutions to the world’s most intractable development challenges.
In sub-Saharan Africa, traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for children and young adults 15 to 29 and the second leading cause of death for children 5 to 14. Many of these deaths occur in minibuses or matatus, the primary mode of transportation in the region. The accidents cost the local economy billions of dollars a year.