Somali Response Innovation in collaboration with ADRA, successfully hosted the Financial Innovation and Resource Mobilization project’s (FIRM) Learning Event, funded by Innovation Norway, under the theme “From Pilot to Practice: Innovative Financing—Promoting Locally Led, Impact-Driven Co-Creation on Evidence and Transitioning Innovations to Market-Wide Application.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Response Innovation Lab hosted a session on “The Missing Link: Connecting Community-Led Innovation Initiatives with National and Global Social Innovation Ecosystems in Humanitarian Settings“ in Geneva, on March 26.

Recognising the challenge brought by food insecurity, the Syria Response Innovation Lab (RIL), in collaboration with Field Ready Middle East, World Vision Syria Response (WVSR), and the Food Security Cluster (FS Cluster), organized two back-to-back workshops—one in Gaziantep, Türkiye, and another in Northwest Syria at the RIL. These workshops provided a platform for frontline responders to voice challenges, exchange insights, and collaboratively design solutions, fostering local ownership.

SomRIL received the Award “Best Accelerator Ecosystem” from StartupBlink recognising Somalia's top performance in the number of accelerators among the seed African ecosystems.

Your voice matters! This is your chance to contribute to shaping impactful solutions to address food insecurity in Northwest Syria. Let’s collaborate to tackle the region’s most pressing issues and create meaningful change.

The second event of our Thoughtcast series took place on October 27 in Jordan! During the gathering, the participants discussed the duplication of efforts and explored the challenges within the impact ecosystem.

How did we conduct the convener for challenge mapping in NW Syria? Read our full Convener Report to know more about how RIL works on the ground.

We have been committed to establishing the Innovation WASH Club as a coordinated and dedicated platform. The convener participants, now collectively committed as part of the Club, will mobilize their resources and bring innovations to enhance the WASH response in NW Syria.