Innovating humanitarian action: more than just luck

Chair

• Wendy Fenton – Coordinator, Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN)

Panel

• Jemilah Mahmood – Under Secretary General for Partnerships, IFRC
• Alice Obrecht – Research Fellow, ALNAP
• Kim Scriven – Manager, Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF)
• Rebecca Petras – Deputy Director, Translators Without Borders

In South Sudan, a new water treatment system that provides a community with more clean water at a lower cost. In Sierra Leone, a poster explaining how to prevent the spread of Ebola in a local dialect, enabled by a network of translators. How do people come up with these ideas? And how do they get put into practice? Or is it simply a matter of luck?

There is little well-grounded knowledge around how humanitarian innovation ‘happens’. While luck plays some role in innovation, there are actions aid organisations can take to increase their chances of good innovation.

ALNAP and the Humanitarian Innovation Fund’s new research is the first study to untangle how to innovate successfully in humanitarian action, and the upcoming edition of HPN’s Humanitarian Exchange magazine showcases a range of cutting edge initiatives. This event will bring together grassroots innovators and leading humanitarian officials, to discuss how to channel the momentum gathering behind humanitarian innovation and shape the future of the sector going into the World Humanitarian Summit – and beyond.

16:00- 16:45: Introductions and presentation from the panellists

16:45-17:30: Q&A from the audience

17:30: Drinks reception