Shaping the future: Our strategy for research and innovation in humanitarian response.
With rising needs and stretched resources, there is an increasing demand to demonstrate that innovation investments are bringing about high returns. However, the practicalities of the humanitarian system make calculations of the return on investment (ROI) and judgements on value for money (VFM) complex.
‘A Return on Investment and Value for Money Assessment Methodology for the Humanitarian Innovation Ecosystem’ outlines a set of indicators to assess ROI and VFM for innovation-focused investments to help increase alignment of methods that could be adopted by actors currently investing in humanitarian innovation. This report is a part of Elrha’s Global Prioritisation Exercise (GPE) for Humanitarian Research and Innovation.
During the desk review and key informant interviews, a few key issues were highlighted in the sector:
To try and support alignment and contribute towards solving some of these challenges, the report:
Follow-on feedback from a subset of interviewees identified a number of cases in which this proposed methodology could be incorporated by actors in the sector. Through the proposed indicators and measurement approaches, particularly in terms of improving cost and cost-effectiveness data, it is therefore hoped that we can align methods across actors and help build the evidence base within the humanitarian innovation sector.
The project was conducted in three phases which are literature review, key informant interviews and feedback and follow-ups. The co-authors, Fab Inc and the International Rescue Committee, first mapped the landscape of existing practice around ROI measurement of humanitarian innovation through desk-based literature review. This involved constructing search queries using keywords within key organisations’ websites. These organisations included the list of organisations selected for key informant interviews, as well as additional key actors identified based on experience in the sector. A semi-structured interview guide was developed and loosely followed during the interviews. An aligned approach to ROI and VFM was developed based on the learnings and common themes that came out of the literature review and the key informant interviews. This proposal was then discussed with a subset of the organisations who participated in the KIIs to gather their feedback and understand the practicality of whether this will be feasible for actors in the sector to adopt and incorporate into their processes.
The Global Prioritisation Exercise (GPE) aims to improve outcomes for people affected by crisis by amplifying the impact of investments in research and innovation and understanding the priorities at all levels. It will provide a detailed overview of the progress and performance of the humanitarian research and innovation ecosystem with a clear set of priorities for research and innovation funding and attention.
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