Country News
Request for proposals for Transition to Scale innovations!
Grand Challenges Canada, through the Being Initiative, is investing in ready-to-scale innovations that address the root causes of young people’s distress before they escalate, strengthening the environments where they live,…
ViewCountry Focus
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 and 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
Championing family-focused youth mental health innovations in India
Implementing Organization: citiesRISE
Type: Ecosystem Catalyst
Location: India
Status: Funded
Kaavad Mental Health Awareness Initiative
Implementing Organization: School Health Annual Report Programme (SHARP)
Type: Proof-of-Concept
Location: Rajasthan, India
Thematic Area(s): Storytelling
Status: Funded
Gratitude, Kindness, Hope: Scaling family based youth mental health interventions through India’s school system
Implementing Organization: citiesRISE
Type: Proof-of-Concept
Location: Chennai, India
Thematic Area(s): Arts, Games
Status: Funded
QUTWE: Queer-affirmative Unicorns Transforming Well-being Ecosystem
Implementing Organization: Restless Development
Type: Proof-of-Concept
Location: Dakshinpuri, Delhi, India
Thematic Area(s): Peer-based
Status: Funded
