The Humanitarian Innovation Programme have supported 13 projects in 2018 and 2019. The objective is to support humanitarian-private partnerships to develop, test and scale new solutions that can contribute to better and more efficient humanitarian assistance. Read about the ongoing projects below and stayed tuned to follow their development from early stage innovation to scale.
Innovation Lab
Waste for warmth
Engineers Without Borders Norway saw three big challenges in the refugee camps in Turkey: lack of protection against harsh winters, overflow of plastic waste and lack of livelihood opportunities for refugees. They will now develop and test an approach to tackle all three issues.
Plastic in refugee settings: from waste to value
Plastic waste is a growing problem in humanitarian action that harms people and animals. UNHCR will partner with the private sector to develop systems that will turn plastic waste into a valuable resource sparking entrepreneurship and livelihood opportunities.
Recycling of solar waste in refugee settings
Over the past years, solar solutions like lanterns and other off-grid solar products have been distributed to people affected by crises by humanitarian organisations. But what happens to the products when they break down or come to their end of life? IOM will partner with the private sector to come up with a solution.
Improving women smallholder farmers' resilience against natural disasters
Smallholder farmers are in the front line of being challenged by the impact of climate change. UN Women’s Buy From Women platform is designed to support the resilience of these farmers. They will now develop a disaster risk reduction tool to help the farmers cope with shocks.
The DIGNITI project: supporing fellow citizens
In 2019 the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) will in partnership with private sector develop a system to make it safe and easy for Cameroonians to support fellow citizens through cash transfers.
Dignified identities in cash programming
Four of Norway’s largest humanitarian organisations have come together to help tackle the challenge of providing digital identities in cash programming.
The world’s first climate positive refugee camp
Care Norway and Care Denmark are aiming to create the world’s first climate positive refugee camp.
Tackling improvised explosive devices
Norwegian People’s Aid has identified the need for new tools and methods to tackle the growing threat from improvised explosive devices in urban areas.
Digital future for legal assistance
Legal and institutional frameworks can either provoke or perpetuate displacement and discrimination or serve as instruments of protection and empowerment. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is working to make legal assistance more accessible for people affected by displacement.
Dignified identities in cash programming II (DIGID II)
Dignified Access to Services in Migration (DIGID II) is the second pilot of the DIGID project. It will continue the work towards creating a digital identity solution for displaced populations. The project is conducted in partnership between the Norwegian Church Aid, the Norwegian Red Cross, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children Norway.
Cash Voucher Assistance (CVA) and health
The Norwegian Red Cross, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) will seek to develop cash and voucher (CVA) ready emergency response units.
Equitable Electricity for Refugees (EER) in Jordan
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), in partnership with the Jordanian startup Neurotec and Wattero will develop a solution to increase refugee and host community access to energy and control of energy consumption.
Polypropylene bags: design, field testing and scaling up of an alternative material
This project aims to identify an appropriate waste reduction and management strategy for, the polypropylene (PP) woven bag, that is commonly used by all humanitarian organizations for food and other commodity packaging. The project is led by a partnership between the Norwegian Red Cross, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissionaire for Refugees (UNHCR).
Cross-border loan solutions for refugees
Through this project, the UNHCR aims to enhance refugee access to complementary pathways to safe third countries by creating a financial mechanism for transborder loans.
Next generation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Mine Action and Disarmament
The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) seeks to enhance the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used in mine action and disarmament, with the aim of increasing gender equality in mine action and decreasing mine action’s environmental footprint.
Creating a viable business model for sustainable demand of local nutritious foods in Uganda
In this project Save the Children and the Response Innovation Lab will seek solutions to address underlying determinants of malnutrition for refugee children living in Uganda. The innovation will focus on researching appropriate small-scale solutions that align with high standards of quality and safety for improved nutrition, as well as an associated sustainable business and marketing model.
Scaling and Diffusion Program
Red Cross sparks development with blockchain community currencies
Vulnerable communities do not lack demand, or labour, or ideas. They lack a medium of exchange to deploy their underutilized resources and an ability to generate financial capital themselves. Red Cross' community inclusion currencies project will allow people affected by crises to effectively create their own local currencies to bootstrap development.
Scaling solar solutions in Ethiopia
There are many ongoing solar projects in humanitarian operations, but the sector experiences challenges in scaling successful solutions. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is tackling these challenges through an innovative financing model.
Reforestation through cutting edge techniques
An important challenge related to the refugee situation in Sudan today, is the unsustainable demand on forest resources. To tackle this issue, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) partnered up with the social enterprise Land Life to implement cutting edge reforestation techniques.
Greening the humanitarian response in Uganda: sustainable and affordable energy solutions for refugees
In many refugee contexts there is limited, if any access to affordable, sustainable and clean energy sources to meet daily domestic and productive energy demands. Consequently, refugee and host community households rely on finite and unregulated natural resources as energy sources.