Innovation may be hard, but for humanitarians it’s essential

Despite considerable success, humanitarian innovation remains an exception rather than the norm. Image: Getty Images
Shaun Hazeldine
Global Innovation Lead, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)- Despite the success of projects like cash-based assistance, humanitarian innovation remains the exception rather than the norm.
- The IFRC prioritizes localization in innovation at every stage, ensuring that those closest to the problems are leading the solutions.
- It has launched several initiatives to help its national societies build innovation-friendly systems and cultures.
Two decades ago, the idea of giving people cash instead of in-kind aid after a crisis seemed radical. Today, cash-based assistance represents some 20% of global humanitarian assistance, empowering people to buy what they need most – food, shelter, or medicine. This simple yet transformative idea has revolutionized how aid is delivered, restoring dignity and autonomy to those affected by disasters.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and its 191-member National Societies have played a pivotal role in this transformation. From pioneering early pilots to creating the global Cash Hub and implementing some of the world’s largest cash assistance programmes in Türkiye, the Horn of Africa, Ukraine and elsewhere, the IFRC network has been at the forefront of scaling cash assistance.
Yet despite this considerable success, humanitarian innovation remains an exception rather than the norm. It is not yet embedded as a standard way of working in crisis response. Why? Because all large institutions – including those in the humanitarian sector – often struggle to foster creativity and innovation at scale. Risk aversion, outdated structures and top-down decision-making all too often stifle the adoption of transformative approaches.
Beyond centralization and ‘solutionism’
One of the biggest challenges to scaling innovation in humanitarian organizations is the tendency to centralize it. Designing solutions in distant hubs and attempting to cascade them outward has frequently proven unsustainable. All too often, this approach descends into techno-solutionism – the belief that complex humanitarian challenges can be “solved” by technology alone.
The sector’s history is filled with well-meaning but ultimately failed attempts: new tools, new platforms and, more recently, new apps, new blockchains and new AI-driven tools – all designed far from the realities of affected communities. Many of these solutions end up abandoned, not because the ideas were bad, but because they failed to engage with local contexts and communities.
Perhaps most critically, centralizing innovation risks marginalizing local changemakers. Across the globe, entrepreneurs, community leaders and innovators are already developing solutions tailored to their contexts. What they need isn’t external ideas and innovators coming in over the top of them, but resources and support to refine and scale their ideas.
Localizing innovation: the IFRC approach
The IFRC has prioritized localization in innovation at every stage, ensuring that those closest to the problems are leading the solutions. Local communities aren’t just beneficiaries; they are the architects and owners of change.
Our Limitless programme exemplifies this localized approach. Through Limitless, we’ve supported over 10,000 young people from 160 countries to address challenges in their communities, collectively reaching around 1.3 million people.
Projects like Vijana Tupo, a youth-led initiative in Kenya, have empowered over 5,000 young people with employment and entrepreneurial skills. It’s also helped a young entrepreneur in Nepal who developed a prototype for vertical hydroponic gardens that are easily installed on rooftops in Kathmandu. She is now receiving grants and contracts with local councils and other agencies. She’s growing her enterprise.
Success in these initiatives isn’t just about funding, though even small grants can be transformative. Just as critical are the less visible elements: mentoring, peer support and access to networks. These components help innovators turn good ideas into sustainable solutions.
Innovating organizational culture
While grassroots innovation can deliver significant impacts and can help to build a momentum and interest for innovation, its growth is often stifled by the internal cultures of large organizations, both public and private. Systems, leadership practices and decision-making processes within legacy institutions frequently fail to support experimentation, agility and risk-taking.
At the IFRC, we’ve recognized that fostering innovation requires transforming organizational systems and culture. This involves creating an environment where new ideas are encouraged, failure is embraced as a learning opportunity, and leaders are empowered to take calculated risks – laying the foundation for both incremental improvements and radical, transformative, system-wide innovations.
To support this shift, through our IFRC Solferino Academy, we’ve launched initiatives to help our 191 National Societies build innovation-friendly systems and cultures. These include:
- Bootcamps and study tours to expose leaders to new approaches and foster cross-learning on innovation systems, change and transformation experiences.
- Leadership development programmes focused on adaptive and transformational leadership, recognizing the crucial role humanitarian leaders play in enabling innovation.
- An Innovation Support Systems initiative to help middle management of National Societies create initiatives and adapt their systems to foster anticipation, experimentation and innovation among staff and volunteers.
- Catalytic financing to help scale promising grassroots initiatives and embed innovation within systems.
- Conducting research and building our understanding of innovation and change.
- Communications for culture that regularly share positive stories of change and new approaches, foster dialogue on innovative thinking and maintain a hopeful, forward-looking tone, reaching over 100,000 participants across the IFRC network of National Societies worldwide.
Making innovation the norm
We are convinced that innovation must become a core way of working in humanitarian action, not an occasional effort or isolated project. Building systems to support grassroots ideas, fostering cultures that embrace risk-taking, and investing in localised leadership are essential steps.
How is the World Economic Forum helping to improve humanitarian assistance?
Cash-based assistance shows us what’s possible when innovation is nurtured and scaled effectively. What began as a radical idea has transformed humanitarian aid globally, saving lives and restoring livelihoods of millions. Cash succeeded precisely because it was supported by enabling approaches to leadership, a willingness to experiment and learn, a commitment to evidence, and above all the value of empowering those closest to the problem.
By applying these lessons more broadly, we can ensure that innovation – like cash itself – is no longer the exception but the norm. This is how we can truly empower communities and transform the future of humanitarian action. Those we seek to serve deserve nothing less.
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