Shaping the future: Our strategy for research and innovation in humanitarian response.
2023 was a challenging year for the humanitarian community, as international resources for aid and humanitarian assistance again struggled to meet increasing global need.
This accelerating level of global humanitarian need is the driving force behind our new Strategy, which builds on the solid foundation of Elrha’s work over the last decade, but raises our ambitions for the role of humanitarian research and innovation in the future.
Our Annual Report captures our first 12 months progressing against this new strategy: through our focused and responsive funding calls, showcasing the impact of R&I on humanitarian action – both in our own work and that of the wider community – and direct engagement and discussion with actors at all levels of the system.
We continued to find, invest in and champion robust research and innovative solutions that have the potential to address critical and complex humanitarian problems, but 2022 has been a devastating year for humanity.
On the one hand the lifting of the last remaining Covid-19 restrictions in most of the world was a momentous achievement, made possible through determined global co-operation and the deployment of science and innovation on a scale never seen before. But on the other hand, those affected by humanitarian crisis in many parts of the world did not receive the urgency of attention they needed and deserved.
This was also a year where we began to think more deeply about our role in the wider humanitarian system as we started to develop our new long-term Strategy which will shape our work from 2023 onwards.
In 2021 we faced some of our biggest challenges yet. Despite the impacts of COVID-19 and cuts to UK Aid, we continued to move forward with our ambitions to see a world better-equipped to handle humanitarian crises though supporting the work of our grantees and contributing knowledge, resources and research to the humanitarian community. We funded 19 new research and innovation projects; we published two innovation gap analyses on Water, Sanitation and Hygience and Gender-Based Violence in humanitarian settings; and we produced four learning papers on research evidence uptake and pathways to change.
Read our 2021 Annual ReviewIn 2020 we continued to deliver on our 2019-2023 strategy which encapsulates our ambitious direction for Elrha. Our strategy is outcome focused, positioning us as a change-maker, effectively coordinating all our capabilities and assets on research, innovation, and partnerships to understand and address some of the most complex humanitarian problems.
Read our 2020 Annual ReviewThis year we supported over 100 research studies and innovation projects around the world. These help us to define and address evidence gaps in the humanitarian sector, increase our understanding of key problems and challenges, develop new solutions and evidence, and drive the uptake and adoption of new approaches into humanitarian policy and practice.
Read our 2019 Annual ReviewOur Annual Report for 2018 is our first as an independent charity. Here you’ll find out specifically what we do, and the change we want to see; discover ten ‘stories’ that showcase the best of our work over the past ten years; take a look at how we spend our money, and where it comes from; and learn about our ambitious direction for the next five years. In 2018 we supported 122 live research and innovation projects around the world, 25 of which were granted in 2018. 40 peer reviewed articles written by our grantees were published in leading journals with open access.
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