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India has the largest youth population globally. They face rising mental health challenges shaped by academic pressure, social isolation, and complex family dynamics. Families play a pivotal role in youth wellbeing, yet gaps in communication, emotional support, and mental health literacy can leave young people feeling alone or misunderstood. 

Efforts such as the National Suicide Prevention Strategy et UMMEED guidelines have provided an important foundation. However, India still lacks scalable interventions to help families improve communication and reduce stigma around mental health. Strengthening families as sources of emotional safety and support is key to prevention and resilience. 

What we’re funding in India:

Proof-of-concept funding:

Proof-of-concept (POC) funding up to $250,000 CAD will be awarded to early-stage projects that can implement, test and refine solutions to country-specific personal, social, and/or environmental factors impacting young people’s mental health and wellbeing in one of the 12 countries.

In India, we seek bold Proof-of-Concept ideas to strengthen family functioning. These innovative solutions should focus on addressing parent-child communication and parents’ perceptions of mental health. 

Transition-to-scale funding:

Transition-to-scale (TTS) funding between $300,000 CAD and $1,500,000 CAD will be awarded to support tested mental health promotion and prevention approaches that align with country-specific priorities along their scaling journey to help catalyze their sustainability and impact.

In India, we seek bold Transition-to-Scale ideas to strengthen family functioning. These innovative solutions should focus on addressing parent-child communication and parents’ perceptions of mental health. 

Ecosystem catalyst funding:

Ecosystem catalyst (EC) funding between $200,000 CAD and $300,000 CAD will be awarded to organizations that can address priority barriers to scale, such as legislation, evidence, coordination, and mobilize demand to help mental health initiatives succeed and grow in one of 12 priority countries.

In India, we’re funding EC proposals that can enhance multi-sectoral coordination to champion family-related interventions at both national and state levels. The focus will be on increasing action on this important issue, including efforts to augment domestic funding. 

Funded Innovations

Children's hands in one of Indian villages showing unity.

Championing family-focused youth mental health innovations in India

Organisation de mise en œuvre : citiesRISE

Type de projet : des catalyseurs d’écosystème

Lieu : Inde

Status: Funded

Kaavad Mental Health Awareness Initiative

Organisation de mise en œuvre : School Health Annual Report Programme (SHARP)

Type de projet : Démonstration de principe

Lieu : Rajasthan, India

Domaine(s) thématique(s): Storytelling

Status: Funded

Gratitude, Kindness, Hope: Scaling family based youth mental health interventions through India’s school system

Organisation de mise en œuvre : citiesRISE

Type de projet : Démonstration de principe

Lieu : Chennai, Inde

Domaine(s) thématique(s): Arts, Games

Status: Funded

QUTWE: Queer-affirmative Unicorns Transforming Well-being Ecosystem

Organisation de mise en œuvre : Restless Development

Type de projet : Démonstration de principe

Lieu : Dakshinpuri, Delhi, Inde

Domaine(s) thématique(s): Peer-based

Status: Funded