Istanbul, Turkey, 27 July 2020 - To tackle the long-term effects of Covid-19, UNDP Europe and Central Asia is launching  BOOST, a regional acceleration program for social impact innovation. It will support emerging solutions in the region in the areas of digitalization, economy and health.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge. While we do not yet know its full impact, it is set to change the future of work, economy, governance and health and severely affects all areas of development. Our new platform is designed to boost and scale effective local solutions” said Gerd Trogemann, Manager of the Istanbul Regional Hub of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia.

BOOST will feature a series of challenges which address development issues related to: digitization, economy and wellbeing. These will be open for innovative solutions from private sector entities, research institutes, academia, and civil society organizations in the Europe and Central Asia region. Applicants will be able to apply for one or more challenges until early September 2020.

Winning teams will have access to the UNDP-backed network of peers, funders, and experts and take part in an intensive six-month online аcceleration program, designed to prepare them to roll out their solutions. The program includes both workshops and individual mentoring sessions taught by experienced business, med-tech, social-tech, digital technologies and impact professionals.

BOOST is a joint initiative by UNDP, the Slovak Ministry of Finance, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others. UNDP and partners will further support the scalability of effective and sustainable solutions across the Europe and Central Asia region.

For more information on the open challenges and program  www.boostimpact.org