In the language of venture investing, disruption is generally seen as a good thing: an established system shaken up by innovation and made to deliver better value. In 2025, those of us in the humanitarian space have borne witness to a darker side of disruption, where shocks delivered to an imperfect but vital system resulted in lives lost and profound uncertainty about the path ahead. Perhaps most troubling was the sense that major global actors were going to adopt a "do less with less" approach that would deprive millions of people of humanitarian aid.
As the year went on, however, a counter-narrative began to emerge. National aid implementers seized the moment to advocate that accelerating localization could lead to the creation of a far more sustainable system. Humanitarian innovators redoubled their efforts to collaborate on scaling solutions that can demonstrably generate dramatic cost savings, unlock new resources, and create lasting impact. And instead of walking away from innovation, many donors doubled down on supporting work that explores what positive disruption could mean for the sector.
Around the world, through the work you will read about in this Year in Review, we at the Response Innovation Lab have had the privilege of engaging with people who believe that despite (and maybe because of) the current aid funding crisis, we have to do more, not less. We hope that you, too, will be inspired to believe that a new and better humanitarian system is on the horizon.
Check out our Year in Review 2025 here.