Equalizer Challenges
The Equalizer Challenges are a core mechanism for identifying, backing and accelerating women-led and women-centred innovations, with the power to reshape women’s health and well-being.
With support from the UNFPA Equalizer Accelerator Fund – which aims to equalize opportunities for women and girls and ensure rights and choices for all through innovation – UNFPA invests in early-stage solutions that have already demonstrated strong potential, then helps them mature into investment-ready, market-viable enterprises.
By combining catalytic funding with technical assistance, visibility and connections within the women’s health ecosystem, the initiative helps innovators strengthen business models, increase investability and accelerate impact. Our approach reduces financial risk in innovation and eases the process of scaling up women- and youth-led enterprises that are too often excluded from traditional financing.
The Equalizer Challenges target some of the most urgent and under-invested areas in women’s health and well-being, including maternal care, gender-based violence prevention, and how climate change impacts women’s health.
By backing bold founders and building the conditions for scale, the initiative does more than fund innovation, it helps expand access to quality care, build stronger markets and create more equitable health systems worldwide.
