Call summary :

Through its Humanitarian Innovation Programme (HIP Norway), Innovation Norway is looking for bold innovation projects that aim to improve humanitarian action, save lives, alleviate suffering, and sustain people’s dignity. The 2024 call for proposals is now open. We welcome humanitarian UN agencies and Norwegian humanitarian organisations (NGOs) to submit project proposals.

We support innovation projects led by humanitarian organisations where the expertise of the private sector and the involvement of affected people is used to solve humanitarian challenges.

The Humanitarian Innovation Programme supports innovation partnerships between the humanitarian and private sector, both at the early stage and after successful piloting. Applicants can either apply for funding to conduct an innovation friendly or innovative procurement
to co-develop a solution with a private sector partner (innovation lab grant), or to scale an existing innovation developed with a private sector partner (scaling grant).

Objectives and target group for the programme

HIP Norway is a grant and support mechanism, financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and administered by Innovation Norway.

HIP Norway aims to strengthen efforts to:
- Save lives, alleviate distress and safeguard human dignity in humanitarian crises.
- Provide people in need with the necessary protection and assistance in line with humanitarian principles.

To contribute to achieving the overall goal, HIP Norway will support projects that develop and scale innovative solutions that will contribute to smarter, better, more sustainable, and cost-effective emergency aid.

The target group(s) for the projects supported through the programme are people affected by humanitarian crises.

Overall, HIP Norway is evaluated based on the number of innovation partnerships established, the number of new solutions developed, successful pilots in humanitarian contexts, new innovative solutions being used that have a direct impact on end users, the number of solutions that have contributed to smarter, better, more sustainable and/or more cost-efficient response, and the number of innovations that have been scaled up in a humanitarian context.

Who can apply?
- UN agencies with a humanitarian mandate
- Norwegian humanitarian organisations with an international mandate (The organisation must be registered at the Brønnøysund Register and have both an office in Norway and a Norwegian board)
- Consortiums of multiple humanitarian organisations. In such collaborations, the main applicant has to come from category 1 or 2, and the other organisations can either come from these categories, or not, e.g., national NGOs etc.
- The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

We encourage humanitarian organisations to collaborate on joint applications.

HIP Norway mobilises and supports humanitarian-private partnerships. The humanitarian organisation/agency is the applicant and receiver of the grant.

Focus areas

HIP Norway is looking for bold ideas that seek to improve resilience against natural disasters or improve humanitarian response in conflicts and disasters. The programme supports projects within one or more of the following focus areas:
- Green humanitarian response: Efforts that contribute to more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions within the humanitarian sector.
- Health and sanitation: Efforts to ensure lifesaving health services and the provision of facilities and services for the maintenance of hygienic conditions and the safe disposal of human waste.
- Protection: Efforts that contribute to protecting people from violence, abuse and violation of international law due to humanitarian crises. Applications focusing on protection from sexual and gender-based violence are encouraged.
- Innovative finance: Innovative financing refers to a number of non-traditional mechanisms for raising additional funds for humanitarian and development assistance. This may be through innovations such as micro-contributions, impact bonds, public-private partnerships and market-based approaches/ business models.
- Food security: Responses during and after a humanitarian crisis addressing issues of food availability, access, utilization, and stability.

Call for proposals 2024

NOK 100 million is allocated to new Innovation Lab and scaling projects in 2024.

- Applications to the Innovation lab scheme may range from NOK 4-6 million (or up to NOK 8 million for multiagency projects with three or more partnering organisations)
- Applications to the Scaling grant scheme may range