Our history

Elrha is born, and sets out to bridge the gap between academics and humanitarian practitioners.

We see the potential of innovating to improve humanitarian response and launch our Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) – the first of its kind.

We launch our second programme, Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC), to generate more and better evidence of what works in public health interventions.

We establish our first thematic-focused area of work, looking at how innovation can address complex problems in humanitarian WASH. (In 2019, we published our WASH Innovation Catalogue, showcasing over 30 potential solutions, with s second edition published in 2020. Read them here.)

In response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, we ran a special rapid response funding call through our R2HC programme. Findings of the research contributed to the public health response, directly supporting efforts to bring the outbreak under control and inform future responses.

We develop a second thematic area of work, focusing on GBV and exploring how innovation can play a vital role in addressing this global problem.

We establish our bespoke ‘Journey to Scale’ initiative in response to a sector-wide demand for greater understanding of tackling the barriers to scale. (Since 2018 we have published a series of reports, insights and tools around scaling innovations, and the successes, barriers, and failures. Read about them here

Through our Global Prioritisation Exercise, we identify shared priorities in the system, so that both research and innovation are better connected to global efforts to improve humanitarian response. See our Mapping Report .

Originally a hosted entity of Save the Children UK, We achieved a significant milestone, becoming an independent charity.

We consolidated our innovation knowledge and learning and transformed it into a practical resource; the Humanitarian Innovation Guide. Whether you’re an innovator, a humanitarian, or both, our Guide helps people and organisations define humanitarian problems and successfully develop innovative solutions.

Happy birthday Elrha! In 2019 we celebrated our tenth year… Watch our 10 Years of Elrha video, and take a look at our stories which capture our first decade…

We funded 15 humanitarian health research studies as part of our COVID-19 responsive funding call for proposals. This urgent funding call sought robust public health research proposals that could  contribute to the effectiveness of the humanitarian response to COVID-19 and increase the evidence base for future responses to similar infectious disease outbreaks.

With funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office we began hosting the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub, sharing resources to help them broker and facilitate high-impact accelerated innovation collaborations.

Gaps in WASH in Humanitarian Response: 2021 Update’ incorporates the views and experiences of more than 1,700 people affected by crisis and nearly 700 in-country WASH practitioners, and is the most comprehensive and inclusive research project of its kind in the humanitarian sector.

Our new Strategy was developed to capture our renewed vision, values, and long-term commitments, and defines our work until 2040, seeing us radically focus our vision and raise our ambition for the role of research and innovation in the humanitarian system.

The anniversary was an opportunity for us to reflect on how our research programme has developed, as well as its contribution to improving humanitarian public health over the last decade.

The culmination of our Global Prioritisation Exercise, we launch our landmark publication. Drawing insights from 16 thematic, regional and country-level consultations, it is the most comprehensive overview of the humanitarian research and innovation (HRI) ecosystem to date, encompassing findings, conclusions, and actionable recommendations to drive policy and practice changes.