Our annual review for 2025 is finally here. The year witnessed significant disruptions across the humanitarian sector, yet our global network continued to explore—through relentless effort and commitment—how to do more with less.

On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, the Response Innovation Lab (RIL) hosted a Thoughtcast session in Amman, Jordan, bringing together Lazord Fellows for a reflective discussion on how innovation is understood and practiced in crisis contexts through youth perspectives. The session created a space for young professionals working across humanitarian response, refugee support, youth empowerment, healthcare, and education to exchange insights drawn from their professional experiences and engagement with crisis-affected communities.

As part of the HST–LHL initiative, the Response Innovation Lab (RIL), in partnership with the Indonesia Localisation Lab (INALocLab) and Penabulu, conducted a visit to Jakarta to engage with national and subnational stakeholders, meet project partners, and observe localisation in action through Indonesia’s humanitarian coordination platform. The visit provided valuable insights into how local leadership shapes humanitarian responses on the ground. Check out the key takeaways from our Challenge Mapping workshop.

At this year’s #HNPW, we hosted a session on March 5 reflecting on a decade of humanitarian innovation, bringing together perspectives from practitioners, innovators, and ecosystem actors across different regions.

How has the humanitarian innovation space evolved over the past decade? What trends are currently shaping the sector? And where are we heading? Join us on March 5 at 10:00 CET for a webinar to explore the evolution of humanitarian innovation through the lens of RIL’s 10-year journey.

Jordan’s humanitarian landscape is under growing pressure, with rising needs, shrinking funding, and a continued reliance on short-term interventions. In this context, finding ways to deliver impact more efficiently, locally, and sustainably has become increasingly urgent.

On January 6, the Somali Response Innovation Lab (SomRIL) hosted a national-level Humanitarian Research & Innovation Futures Consultation in Mogadishu , convening a diverse cross-section of Somalia’s humanitarian ecosystem to collectively shape a forward-looking, nationally grounded agenda for humanitarian research and innovation.

Using Elhra’s Humanitarian Research & Innovation Futures Toolkit, the consultation applied strategic foresight methods to examine key drivers of change, surface critical uncertainties, and stress-test existing humanitarian approaches—ensuring future responses remain adaptive, evidence-driven, and locally relevant.

We’re excited to launch InvoLearn, a chat-based learning experience designed to help humanitarian workers build core innovation skills — anytime, anywhere, even with limited connectivity. Developed by SyRIL, InvoLearn offers interactive, self-paced micro-learning grounded in recognized humanitarian innovation frameworks.

On November 27th, the Uganda Response Innovation Lab (U-RIL), in collaboration with Start Network, hosted a workshop focused on the future of research and innovation in humanitarian response across Uganda and its neighboring countries. This report brings you the insights and knowledge generated from the workshop.

RILx25 brought together 130 participants from 35 countries across various sectors and geographies. The event was organised in collaboration with Superpool and IFDO, with the generous support of Danish Refugee Council, Elrha, Grand Challenges Canada, the Oxfam Novib HST-LHL programme, and Save the Children International. Check out the takeaways from RILx25 and get inspired on how to prepare for the next “crossroads”.

On November 27th, the Uganda RIL & Start Network brought together diverse actors from five countries for a dialogue on the future of humanitarian research & innovation. Using Elrha's Futures Toolkit, participants mapped pathways to resilience and relevance amidst uncertainty.

Bilow Capital is an innovation project supported by the Somali Response Innovation Lab through the FIRM Challenge 2024. In this piece, Co-founder and General Partner Hana Kaise Abdi—also a speaker at RILx25 on the “Local Innovation Ecosystems” panel—shares her insights on what it takes for a local innovation ecosystem to truly thrive.

A small milestone and recognition we achieved in Jordan!

Climate-smart agriculture isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a lifeline for farmers on the frontlines of climate change. In this piece from a South Sudan perspective, we explore what truly makes a solution “climate-smart,” from boosting productivity and resilience to cutting emissions and protecting natural resources. We look at which food-system actors can drive this shift, what farmers in resource-poor, climate-affected areas are actually asking for, and whether current innovations match their needs.

Response Innovation Lab will partner with the International Forum for Development Organizations for their event “Development Partners… Winning Partners” in Beirut this year, taking place from December 11 to 13.  

We kicked off the first national dialogue session on the future of research and innovation in humanitarian action in Al-Azraq. The session was organized by the Response Innovation Lab in partnership with Al-Azraq Alive, and we were honored to have the Mayor of Al-Azraq join us, this gathering came as part of the Jordan Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) activities.

With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at RIL’s annual event, RILx25, in Istanbul, Rwanga Foundation officially joins the RIL global network as an Affiliate Facility. Affiliate Facilities share RIL’s vision of developing inclusive and collaborative innovation ecosystems, while combining their local expertise and institutional strengths with RIL’s methodologies. Rwanga Foundation becomes RIL’s fourth Affiliate Facility, following the ones in Jordan, Nepal, and Puerto Rico.

#PostRILx25 brings highlights and resources from the discussions, speakers, and partners. Today’s piece is brought to you by Disya Marianty, Pujiono Centre - Co-Coordinator of the Indonesia Localisation Lab, under the Indonesia Development-Humanitarian Alliance (ID-HA) , an interim secretariat of the Indonesian Humanitarian Coordination Platform (IHCP) .

We hosted the 2025 edition of our annual event RILx in Istanbul from October 15-17, this year under the theme “Humanitarian Innovation at the Crossroads: New Solutions for Ecosystems in Crisis,” with a dual focus on localization and climate adaptation. Three days of open conversations, cross-sector learning, and genuine connections in Istanbul brought together over 130 participants from around the world, spanning international and local NGOs, social enterprises, institutional donors, foundations, academia, entrepreneurship support organisations, public institutes, and impact networks. Check out the snapshots from RILx25!

An inspiring story of Navjot and The Washing Machine Project, and his messages to the next-gen innovators and the broader humanitarian innovation ecosystem.