UNDP launches global innovation challenge to find life-saving solutions for crises

“Rivers and coastlines are lifelines for communities recovering from conflict, but they’re often littered with dangers beneath the surface,” said Steinar Essen, UNDP’s Global Advisor on Mine Action.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a major global innovation challenge aimed at identifying bold, practical solutions to help crisis-affected communities rebuild their lives. Through a series of open calls, UNDP is inviting scientists, engineers, technologists and entrepreneurs worldwide to contribute ideas that can accelerate recovery in some of the world’s most complex and dangerous environments.

In partnership with UK-based innovation platform Wazoku and consultancy SeaFreight Labs, the initiative uses open-innovation crowdsourcing to uncover low-cost, scalable solutions that can provide communities with tools to restart their lives. The approach enables UNDP to tap expertise far beyond traditional networks, ensuring diverse, creative ideas can be tested and applied in real-world humanitarian settings.

Focus on Underwater Mine and UXO Detection

The first challenge targets one of the most urgent and technically demanding problems in global humanitarian response: detecting and mapping submerged mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. These threats persist from both current and historic conflicts, posing severe risks to civilians, blocking access to water sources and transport routes, and delaying reconstruction.

Millions of tonnes of explosive ordnance remain scattered across waterways worldwide. Clearing these areas is costly, slow and often dangerous for mine-action specialists. Innovative technologies capable of identifying underwater explosives would dramatically improve safety and allow clearance teams to plan more efficient operations.

“Rivers and coastlines are lifelines for communities recovering from conflict, but they’re often littered with dangers beneath the surface,” said Steinar Essen, UNDP’s Global Advisor on Mine Action. “By tapping into global innovation, we can find faster, safer and more affordable ways to make these waters safe again, helping communities return and rebuild with confidence.”

UNDP has more than three decades of experience supporting mine action across 50 countries, working with governments to reduce risk, clear contaminated land and assist survivors. The new challenge seeks affordable, user-friendly technologies that can detect clusters of underwater ordnance in both saltwater and freshwater conditions. Submissions remain open until 9 March 2026.

Powered by a Global Community of Over 700,000 Innovators

The challenge will be hosted on Wazoku’s Innocentive platform — a global community of over 700,000 solvers known for delivering breakthroughs for organizations including the International Rescue Committee and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This marks the first-ever collaboration between Wazoku and a United Nations agency.

“Our community has a strong track record in supporting humanitarian and development initiatives,” said Simon Hill, CEO of Wazoku. “We’re excited to bring that expertise to the UNDP Challenge and help translate innovative ideas into real-world impact.”

SeaFreight Labs, serving as Project Advisor, brings experience from previous challenge series with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Habitat for Humanity, and World Vision. Founder and CEO Harry Sangree underscored the importance of global participation:

“The problems that UNDP is bringing to the global crowd are vitally important, highly impactful and extremely difficult. We invite solvers from around the world to submit their solutions and share the challenge widely so UNDP has the best chance of finding actionable answers.”

Future Challenges: Youth Mental Health and Crisis Data Tools

Upcoming rounds of the UNDP Challenge series will focus on:

• Youth-led mental health solutions in crisis-affected contexts

• Community-driven tools for real-time crisis data collection to strengthen humanitarian response

Both areas are emerging priorities globally, as mental health needs escalate across conflict-affected settings and aid organizations push for faster, more reliable data to improve life-saving interventions.

For details on how to participate, visit the challenge page. To learn more about UNDP’s global innovation initiatives, visit UNDP’s innovation platform.