UNDP Maldives Opens Applications For ‘Miyaheli’ 2022 For CSO's

United Nations Developmental Program (UNDP) Maldives has joined together with Ooredoo Maldives and its partners to host this year’s ‘Miyaheli’ camp. Since its inception in 2016, the Miyaheli has been empowering youth and encouraging social innovation in the Maldives. In its previous cycles, the camp has emphasized on social innovation, with winning teams awarded grant funding to launch their pilot phase of project in 6 months’ time.

The 2022 Miyaheli Social Innovation Challenge is themed as ‘People, Planet & Prosperity’ and centers on the call of action for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via innovative solutions. In doing so, it aspires to create a prosperous future for people and the planet. As per the challenge, participants are encouraged to develop solutions to empower the vulnerable in the society through increased opportunities, accessibility and inclusivity.

At the same time, the challenge also focuses on sustainable best practices for the planet such as science-based ideas that could combat the environmental and social issues faced by Maldivians in their daily lives. The solutions proposed under the challenge must be creative and founded on concepts that link employment and livelihood opportunities. For this year’s edition, UNDP Maldives has also restricted application to only Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s).

The social innovation platform will allow interested CSO’s to collaborate and co-develop solutions to address social issues in their current communities. Moreover, the tools and skills covered at Miyaheli 2022 will add new layers of knowledge while the guidance provided by mentors and facilitators will further improve their ideas. Through this, their ideas can be polished to determine the key social change that would both beneficially influence sustainability of the project and overall positive impact on community.

This challenge will encourage CSO’s to go beyond the usual activities of the organizations and seek innovative solutions. Afterwards, the winning CSO’s will have the chance to bring their vision into life by utilizing the grand funding for social innovation projects and exploring other opportunities to upscale their projects further. A total of 13 CSOs will make its way to the camp with only 3 taking home the winning grant to pilot their innovative solutions.

A seed funding of MVR 300,000 will be facilitated with mentorship to support the ideas and ensure its longevity in making a difference in people’s lives. The seed funding will take into consideration the proposed budget and requirement of the CSO’s. 3 out of 2 grants are designated for CSO’s outside the Male’ region.