Innovation for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Crises

An estimated 32 million women and girls of reproductive age are living in emergency settings. Within these unstable and challenging contexts, delivering accessible, quality, and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is increasingly complex, and requires more creative and improved interventions. 

Driven by our focus on finding solutions to complex humanitarian problems through research and innovation, we commissioned a report to better understand how the SRH community of practice understands innovation, and maps innovative interventions against SRH research gaps and needs. In addition to providing an analysis of ‘where we are’ in terms of innovation for the humanitarian SRH sector, it offers a clear strategy and ‘next steps’ on how to meaningfully innovate for SRH. 

“This report will serve as Elrha’s strategic blueprint in our aims to improve SRH outcomes in humanitarian crises through research and innovation, and we are confident it will serve to convene actors in the sector around responsible and impactful innovation.”

– Angela Francis, HIF Senior Innovation Manager and Anne Harmer, Head of Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) 

We thank the authors for their work on this paper: Kimberley Popple at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Ana Florescu and Andrea Wong at Science Practice, and Dr. Anne Golaz at The Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies. Dr. Neha Singh at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre and Prof. Karl Blanchet at The Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies reviewed and shaped the research design and the framing of the insights.