Pathways to change 2020

In a world of increasing humanitarian needs and stretched resources, it’s more important than ever for humanitarian organisations to demonstrate the difference they make to the lives of people and communities affected by crises.

We believe research and innovation should be central pillars of the humanitarian system to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian response.

The work of our two world-class programmes, the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) and the Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC), is driven by the needs and priorities of people affected by crises. Our work focuses on high-quality research to grow the evidence base, and on innovation to identify, test and scale solutions. We have supported over 280 research studies and innovation projects to date, championing new ideas and different approaches to evidence what works in humanitarian response.

But both research and innovation take time to create positive change in the lives of people affected by crises. This Pathways to Change report – our first – provides an overview of our key activities and charts the process to achieving impact through illustrative stories and case studies. We outline our approach to creating pathways to change, and explore narrative examples of how we affect change across our research and innovation programmes.