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.

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.

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

Great news from Khalid Hashi, an innovator we’ve been proud to support over the years!
The Obama Foundation has just announced that Khalid will join its eighth cohort of Obama Scholars — a group of 11 emerging leaders from around the world who will participate in the program at Columbia University in New York City.

Watch the impact video telling the story of OGOW Health - supported by RIL - and how it contributes to heath care in Somalia.

In the heart of Uganda, a transformative story unfolds—Prum Ventures, a beacon of innovation and compassion, is rewriting the narrative of community well-being. This is the inspiring chronicle of Walter Dunga and Prudence Mucunguzi, visionary entrepreneurs on a mission to combat micronutrient deficiencies and reshape the health landscape of the region.

RIL Affiliate Facility Kumwe Hub has been supporting Rwandan social enterprise Rainbow Health Food with critical investment capital. This funding has allowed the company to scale up its business of providing nutrient-rich foods to school children. That story is told in the video below.

The challenges of the pandemic also revealed opportunities for innovation as it showed that the temporary covid telehealth services could be work in Somalia. Hello Caafi was launched in 2021 and is the first and only telehealth service in Somalia. The SomRIL has been working to support the expansion of this service, and to broker partnerships.

https://www.responseinnovationlab.com/knowledge-blog/leveraging-technology-to-improve-health-in-somalia

The latest startup that has reached the last stages of the Incubation Process is Al Bustan Mobile Application. Al Bustan Application is a mobile application that links farmers, service providers and consultants in a streamlined way. It is being developed to help farmers to move towards improving their production and increasing productivity by facilitating market linkages. The application is under development specifically for the Mosul market, and expected to launch as a pilot within the month of July 2022.

In 2021, LINS issued a call for nutrition innovations/solutions that are locally rooted, market-driven, sustainable, with satisfactory proof of concept, and less dependent on humanitarian aid flows. The call sought to support quality solutions to at least one of the major challenges of malnutrition

Participation in the MIT D-Lab’s Co-Creation Summit in Arua, Uganda, which promoted locally designed solutions to energy and livelihoods challenges in refugee settlements.

Read about the experience from innovator Saul Kabali with Response Innovation Lab developing SafeBangle Technologies for the past two years, a wearable technology for immediate reporting of violence attempts against women and girls.

Hello Caafi! is a groundbreaking telehealths solution from Somalia, designed and led by two remarkable women innovators.

Learn about the Uganda RIL’s Kampala Impact Day events, and the three innovators nominated by the team.

Our labs are supporting several innovations that directly benefit refugee populations, learn more about these innovators and their pursuit to support their communities and others.

UNDP Accelerator Labs, Honey Bee Network, and GIAN have jointly organized the first International annual competition for creative & innovative ideas or traditional knowledge practices around the world, which solve day-to-day problems. Life Shelter received this International Award among 2,500 solutions around the world.

The Hiddo & Hirsi educational videos are the first series of its kind for Somali-speaking children. Together, the innovator Poet Nation Media, the Somali Response Innovation Lab, and its local host World Vision Somalia developed a segment called Hiddo & Hirsi – the Protector Twins. These twins envision themselves as superheroes protecting their community from the Coronavirus and show how they deal with the challenges of closed school, psycho-social and mental health awareness, gender inclusivity and handicap representation, and much more!

The Response Innovation Lab (RIL) has developed an Innovation M&E Toolkit to gather evidence around humanitarian innovations to better understand whether it’s having the desired positive impact. This video is a short case study for the toolkit’s use in Somalia to gather evidence around the OGOW EMR digital medical records, health pilot project with World Vision.

Khalid Hashi, founder of the Somali-based OGOW EMR health record innovation talks about the lessons he has learned as a social entrepreneur in a humanitarian setting.