Deadline: 22-Jun-23
Innovation Norway is inviting humanitarian UN agencies and Norwegian humanitarian organisations (NGOs) to submit project proposals for its Humanitarian Innovation Programme (HIP Norway).
Through its Programme Innovation Norway is looking for bold innovation projects that aim to improve humanitarian action, save lives, alleviate suffering, and sustain people’s dignity.
Objectives
- HIP Norway is a grant and support mechanism, financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and administered by Innovation Norway.
- HIP Norway aims to strengthen efforts to:
- Save lives, alleviate distress and safeguard human dignity in humanitarian crises.
- Provide people in need with the necessary protection and assistance in line with humanitarian principles.
- To contribute to achieving the overall goal, HIP Norway will support projects that develop and scale innovative solutions that will contribute to smarter, better, more sustainable, and cost-effective emergency aid.
Focus Areas
- HIP Norway is looking for bold ideas that seek to improve resilience against natural disasters or improve humanitarian response in conflicts and disasters. The programme supports projects within one or more of the following focus areas:
- Green humanitarian response: Efforts that contribute to more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions within the humanitarian sector.
- Health and sanitation: Efforts to ensure lifesaving health services and the provision of facilities and services for the maintenance of hygienic conditions and the safe disposal of human waste.
- Protection: Efforts that contribute to protecting people from violence, abuse and violation of international law due to humanitarian crises. Applications focusing on protection from sexual and gender-based violence are encouraged.
- Innovative financing: Innovative financing refers to a number of non-traditional mechanisms for raising additional funds for humanitarian and development assistance. This may be through innovations such as micro-contributions, impact bonds, public-private partnerships and market-based approaches/ business models.
Scheme
- Innovation Lab grant scheme: The Innovation Lab supports early-stage innovation projects.
- Scaling grant scheme: The Scaling grant scheme supports the uptake and scaling of solutions that have been successfully piloted and reached proof of concept in at least one humanitarian setting. Projects that have previously received support through the Innovation Lab will have an advantage in the competition for the Scaling grant scheme.
Target groups
- The target group(s) for the projects supported through the programme are people affected by humanitarian crises.
- Overall, HIP Norway is evaluated based on the number of innovation partnerships established, the number of new solutions developed, successful pilots in humanitarian contexts, new innovative solutions being used that have a direct impact on end users, the number of solutions that have contributed to smarter, better, more sustainable and/or more cost-efficient response, and the number of innovations that have been scaled up in a humanitarian context.
Funding Information
- NOK 97 million is allocated to new Innovation Lab and scaling projects in 2023.
- Applications to the Innovation Lab scheme may range from NOK 4-6 million (or up to NOK 8 million for multiagency projects with three or more partnering organisations)
- Applications to the Scaling grant scheme may range from NOK 2-10 million
- The total funding allocated for each grant scheme is subject to applications received.
- Duration: The projects can last for up to two years (24 months) from the date the grant acceptance offer is signed.
Eligibility Criteria
- UN agencies with a humanitarian mandate
- Norwegian humanitarian organisations with an international mandate (The organisation must be registered at the Brønnøysund Register and have both an office in Norway and a Norwegian board)
- Consortiums of multiple humanitarian organisations. In such collaborations, the main applicant has to come from category 1 or 2, and the other organisations can either come from these categories, or not, e.g., national NGOs etc.
- They encourage humanitarian organisations to collaborate on joint applications.
- HIP Norway mobilises and supports humanitarian-private partnerships. The humanitarian organisation/agency is the applicant and receiver of the grant.
General requirements for both grant schemes
- Innovative: The projects shall aim for transformational impact, bettering the lives of people affected by conflict and disasters, develop more sustainable solutions and/or contribute to more cost-efficient utilization of humanitarian funds. Projects with a high level of innovation will be prioritised.
- Humanitarian-private partnerships: The applicant must describe how the private sector is contributing, or will contribute, to the innovation project.
- Impact and inclusivity: The projects shall impact people affected by conflict and natural disasters. The applicant must describe the expected involvement of affected people in the innovation process and how they may be impacted by the outcome.
- Scalable solutions: The projects shall aim for scaling, which refers to the process of replicating and/or adapting an innovation across large populations and geographies for transformational impact.
- Leadership commitment: The projects must ensure leadership commitment and sufficient resource allocation within the organisation(s).
- Sustainability: The projects will be considered across the three dimensions of sustainability; social, environmental and economic effect, as well as the handling of risks related to cross cutting issues; including human rights, gender equality, anti-corruption, climate and the environment.
- Humanitarian principles: The projects shall be conducted in accordance with the humanitarian principles; humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independency.
- Knowledge transfer: The projects must conduct and take part in activities for the sharing of knowledge with other organisations that engage in humanitarian response to ensure broader learning outcomes for the sector.
- Sourcing of products and solutions: The projects must ensure a transparent and competitive procurement process.
- Project length: The projects’ maximum length is two years from when the grant letter is signed.
- Reporting: All grant recipients are required to present Innovation Norway with a financial and narrative report on how the funds have been spent and the results of the project within three months after the project is completed. The report should also present a brief executive summary of the project.
- The grant recipient is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the project, including conducting an evaluation of the solutions and the results, in line with the organisation’s results framework methodology.
- Project advisory groups: In order to lessen the burden of reporting, provide support and ensure progress in the projects, Innovation Norway will take part in the projects’ advisory groups.
- Surveys: Surveys are conducted on a regular basis to evaluate Innovation Norway. The grant recipient is expected to answer any such survey initiated by Innovation Norway or by any Norwegian Ministry.
For more information, visit Innovation Norway.