In March 2020, as part of our COVID-19 response, UNDP Serbia, supported by norms and standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO), has launched an initiative to reduce or mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia.

In addition to increasing the national public health system capacities to respond to similar challenges in the future, the COVID-19 Innovation Challenge will stimulate local business development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

We invited legal entities to propose innovative ways of producing or procuring products, technological solutions and new value chains for the production or procuring of personal protective equipment (PPE), medical equipment such as respirators/ventilators, production of COVID-19 testing kits, and healthcare waste management processes and equipment.

In total, 50 organizations responded to our Challenge call and we have selected 23 of the most innovative proposals, based on their expected impact. They are the ones presented on this platform, grouped under five categories: Prevention, Detection, Treatment, Disinfection and Medical Waste Management. The approximate total value of all these ideas is $7 million USD.

We are inviting you to partner with us in supporting the implementation of the best ideas, aiming to address the immediate pandemic and future public health system resilience.

Let’s jointly ensure a sustainable COVID-19 response, recovery and resilience of the public health system in Serbia.