Annual report 2021
In 2021, we faced some of our biggest challenges yet. Despite the impacts of COVID-19 and cuts to UK Aid, we continued to move forward with our ambitions to see a world better-equipped to handle humanitarian crises through supporting the work of our grantees and contributing knowledge, resources and research to the humanitarian community.
We continued to fund new research and innovation projects; publish valuable evidence and learning; and double down on our efforts to increase the visibility of humanitarian research and innovation investment and further strengthen the humanitarian system.
Welcome to our Annual Report 2021.
In 2021 Elrha faced some of its biggest challenges yet. Despite the impacts of COVID-19 and cuts to UK Aid, we continued to move forward with our ambitions to see a world better-equipped to handle humanitarian crises though supporting the work of our grantees and contributing knowledge, resources and research to the humanitarian community.
Our research studies and projects are supported through our Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) and Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) programmes; each focusing on key thematic areas of humanitarian practice, including Humanitarian Public Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Disability and Older Age Inclusion (DOAI).
In 2021 we funded 19 new research and innovation projects; we published two innovation gap analyses on Water, Sanitation and Hygience and Gender-Based Violence in humanitarian settings; and we produced four learning papers on research evidence uptake and pathways to change.
The year saw renewed focus on our Global Prioritisation Exercise (GPE), and we were able to set up our Reference Group and convened a donors’ roundtable to increase the visibility of humanitarian research and innovation investment. We also completed the procurement of our research teams to deliver the research components, with the American University of Beirut (AUB), in close collaboration with Deakin University, leading a global mapping exercise to establish how much is being invested in humanitarian research and innovation, by who and where it is going.
We also continued to host and support the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), which in 2021 awarded four new grants across its four initial priority areas: satellite technology, humanitarian surgery, collective crisis intelligence and vaccine delivery.
Read on for a review of our work in 2021…
