The process of evaluating the candidates for the 2023 call for proposals has been finalized, and we are excited to welcome a new cohort of innovation projects to our portfolio. The Humanitarian Innovation Programme received 94 applications this year, which is an all-time high number. Among these, 16 projects were granted funding: 12 innovation lab projects and four scaling projects. The projects address a wide range of humanitarian challenges through innovative approaches, from access to clean water, to innovative financing solutions, and protection against gender-based violence.

- We were particularly pleased to see that the overall quality of applications remains high. We are truly excited to learn alongside these new projects in the next two years, says Therese Marie Uppstrøm Pankratov, head of the Humanitarian Innovation Programme.

Below you will find an overview of the projects. Click on the links to read more about each project.

Innovation lab projects
1. Engineers Without Borders Norway and Field Ready Turkey: Enhancing Access to Safe Drinking Water in Northwest Syria
2. Engineers Without Borders Norway and Response Innovation Lab Somalia: Social plastics for economic development in Somalia
3. Adventist Development and Relief Agency Norway (ADRA) and Response Innovation Lab Somalia: Financial innovation and resource mobilization in Somalia
4. IOM and Norwegian Refugee Council and UN Habitat: LandLedger: Reinventing Land Rights in Crisis
5. IOM: Empowering Displaced Communities through Energy Mesh Network
6. IOM: A diaspora-guaranteed microfinance model for safe shelters
7. Norwegian People’s Aid: Rapid soil tests to protect civilians and livelihoods
8. UNICEF, InnovateNow Accelerator and Kilimanjaro Blind Trust: Inclusive humanitarian response for children with disabilities
9. UNICEF: Optimised supply chain model for therapeutic foods for malnourished children in Madagascar
10. UNICEF: Project Alpha: Solar-powered education and healthcare in conflict zones through sustainable energy investment
11. UNHCR: Strengthening information integrity in humanitarian settings
12. Norwegian Church Aid: ProTECHtion: Digitally powered community protection


Scaling projects
1. IOM, Bright Products, Aceleron, Total Energies and University of Edinburgh: E-waste - circular economy at scale
2. UNICEF, Meedan, GSMA and Meta: Laaha - Virtual Safe Space for women and girls
3. WFP and Nilus: Harnessing digital technology to promote transparency and efficiency in the distribution of cash-based transfers
4. WFP, ECSSA, Diquini Manufaturing and Clean Cooking Alliance: Cooking up change in Haiti