Scaling Challenge: Adopting Innovations in High Severity Settings

Deadline: 5-Jun-23

Elrha is looking for organisations with extensive reach in acute phases of emergencies, and in complex, conflict-affected and protracted settings, to pilot a previously HIF-funded innovation.

The pilot should aim to test the impact of the innovation by using it effectively in one a very high severity crisis setting. Applicants must have substantial ongoing sector-relevant operations in at least three very high severity settings.

This Challenge aims to support the scaling of evidenced-based, H IF-funded humanitarian innovations, by incentivising their adoption and use ivory high severity settings.

There are two key elements to the challenge:

• adoption of a H IF-funded innovation by an organisation not already using the innovation,
• Use of the innovation in a very high severity setting.

These projects span multiple humanitarian sectors, and include non-sector-specific innovations that have relevance across humanitarian action. As well as maintaining funding which is not specific to any sector, they have also developed thematic areas of focus (water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), gender-based violence (GBV) and the inclusion of persons with disability and older persons MAID, through which they support projects which address thematically defined problems.

After the challenge launch, they will be spotlighting selection H IF-funded innovations on the challenge webpage.

Through their areas of focus, they have produced tools that help to highlight the value and potential impact of HIF-funded research and innovations. However, as these tools focus on specific areas within their portfolio, these do not provide a comprehensive list of eligible innovations (for a full list of HIF-funded innovations).

Tools include the following overviews and catalogues:

• WASH Catalogue (Second Edition)
• WASH Marketplace
• Overview of Innovation to Improve the M&E of Humanitarian GBV Programming
• Disability and Older Age Inclusion WOAD Innovation Catalogue

While the tools may help adopting organisations to verify that their intervention features the adoption of a HIF-funded innovation, the Lead Applicant is required to make the case, in their full proposal, as to the value of the innovation as an improvement to current practice, and its suitability to the setting in which the intervention is proposed.

Funding Information

• Organisations interested in adopting a HIF-funded innovation are invited to apply for grants up to 150,000 GBP. Please note that proposals requesting more than this sum from HIF are ineligible. They anticipate funding around four to six projects.
• Projects are expected to start at the end of October 2023 and last for up to 12 months. All project-related activities must complete by 31 October 2024.

Countries considered as very high severity settings: Afghanistan; Central African Republic; Chad; Democratic Republic of Congo; Ethiopia; Haiti; Mali; Myanmar; Nigeria; Sudan; Somalia; South Sudan; Syria; Ukraine; Yemen.

Eligibility Criteria

• At Eol stage and with the submission of the Full Proposal, applications must meet the following criteria.
  • The Lead Organisation must be a legally registered entity (including but not limited to an international non-governmental organisation, national non-governmental organisation, private company, Red Cross / Red Crescent movement, United Nations agency or programme, civil society organisation, academic / research institution, government). Applicants are expected to provide relevant evidence (eg, a registration document) at the Eol stage.
  • The proposed project should not exceed the maximum duration and grant size limits for this Innovation Challenge: projects should last up to 12 months and all project activities should be complete by 3lst October 2024.
  • The proposed innovation to adopt should have previously been funded by the HIF. One organisation cannot apply to adopt multiple innovations within the same application, but you can submit as many applications as you want.
  • The proposed project should apply a humanitarian innovation to at least one of the following contexts, in a very high severity setting complex conflicts; complex protracted crises; acute responses. The project should aim, directly or indirectly, to benefit crisis-affected populations, inclusive of refugees, internally displaced persons, and host communities.
  • The Lead Organisation must have substantial ongoing operations in at least three very high severity settings including the setting of proposed project implementation. Where the innovation being used is specific to a humanitarian sector (WASH, Nutrition, Protection, etc.) the ongoing operations should include substantial work in that sector.
  • The Lead Organisation must be proposing to adopt and use an innovation that was not developed in-house or by a part of the same organisation, and that it is not already routinely using. The lead applicant and the organisation that previously developed the innovation through the HIF should not be members of the same wider or federated organisation, such as separate members of the Red Cross movement or different country offices of the same INGO. Exceptions to this are members of alliances or networks such as CHS Alliance, and separate UN agencies.
  • The Lead Organisation must demonstrate awareness of ethical risks related to the proposed project (this could include conflict sensitivity and relationship with local contextual and gender dynamics).
  • At E01 stage, you should be able to affirm that you are in contact with the innovators/ originating team of the innovation that you are proposing to adopt, or to articulate briefly why contact with the innovators is not relevant to this innovation. At the full proposal stage, the assessment of the proposal’s feasibility will include judgement of relationships/partnerships with key stakeholders including the innovators.

For more information, visit Elrha.