Over 4000 free audio and video lectures, seminars and teaching resources from Oxford University.
Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Innovation and refugees (Forced Migration Review, supplement 2014)

Innovation around displacement is not new. Yet the imperfections of current approaches are obvious in the challenges that we continue to face. By looking at old problems in new ways and by seeking and fostering innovation itself, new products can be developed, new ways of working can be devised and new modalities and paradigms can emerge to make the lives of displaced people better, more sustainable and less risky. These 11 articles reflect some of the thinking behind humanitarian innovation for displaced people, and some of its current manifestations.

The title – ‘Innovation and refugees’ – of this special FMR supplement reflects the focus of the Humanitarian Innovation Project (HIP) with whom we have worked to publish this collection of articles. The eleven articles include contributions from HIP’s Humanitarian Innovation Conference (held in Oxford in July 2014). This supplement is available in print and online in English only.

See more at: http://www.fmreview.org/innovation

# Episode Title Description People Date
12 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Humanitarian innovation, humanitarian renewal? The continued evolution of the humanitarian innovation concept needs a critical engagement with how this agenda interacts with previous and contemporary attempts to improve humanitarian action. Kristin Bergtora Sandvik 12 Jan 2015
11 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Innovation and new ways of working across sectors Humanitarian actors will have to adapt to a changing world but it will not be easy or straightforward. Operations are changing as a result of innovations which bring many improvements but also throw up challenges. Erik Abild 12 Jan 2015
10 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Innovation for equity in Lebanon Innovative approaches in Lebanon aim to address, in two very different ways, the particular needs of the most vulnerable among the refugee and host populations. Luciano Calestini 12 Jan 2015
9 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Innovation and refugee livelihoods: a historical perspective It is difficult to speak convincingly of ‘new’ or innovative practices towards refugees, especially in refugee livelihoods assistance, while there remains a significant gap in historical knowledge and institutional memory. Evan Elise Easton-Calabria 12 Jan 2015
8 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Entrepreneurship and innovation by refugees in Uganda In order to make a living, refugees have to be innovative, and refugees in Uganda have contributed tremendously to entrepreneurship and innovation in the country. Robert Hakiza 08 Dec 2014
7 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Resettlement and livelihoods innovation in the US Conversations with multiple stakeholders in the US help to highlight barriers to economic self-sufficiency for resettled refugees and opportunities for innovative approaches. Faith Nibbs 08 Dec 2014
6 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - UNHCR Ideas: an online platform for change ‘UNHCR Ideas’ aims to enable collaborative problem solving and idea generation among an online community. Alice Bosley 08 Dec 2014
5 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Technology, production and partnership innovation in Uganda Since 2007 a partnership between UNHCR, the Government of Uganda and ‘MakaPads’ inventor Moses Musaazi has helped provide affordable sanitary pads for thousands of refugee girls and women. Moses Musaazi 08 Dec 2014
4 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Learning curves and collaboration in reconceiving refugee settlements A collaboration between UNHCR, Ennead Architects and Stanford University uses settlement design to promote innovation and further development in the refugee protection model but collaborators initially face a steep learning curve. Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Aparna Surendra 02 Dec 2014
3 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Innovation: what, why and how for a UN organisation The purpose of innovation is to make humanitarian work more effective and more reflective. We do innovation to improve human lives by doing things better. Innovation, for UNHCR, is a humanitarian imperative to be carried out with partners. T Alexander Aleinikoff 02 Dec 2014
2 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - Introduction: refugees and innovation Doing innovation well presents challenges for how we can work better together as organisations and with displaced people, and how we can break down traditional barriers between actors – all while upholding ethical principles and protection standards. Alexander Betts 02 Dec 2014
1 Creative Commons FMR Innovation and Refugees - From the editors From the editors Marion Couldrey, Maurice Herson 02 Dec 2014