SafePad aims at tackling the lack of access to sanitary towels for women and girls in developing countries. Safepads are designed with a permanently bonded antimicrobial technology that efficiently reduces the concentration of fungi and bacteria - they are reusable and washable. The pad prevents infections while also helping to avoid the social isolation of girls and women in developing countries. One safe pad can be used up to 100 times. To date, 150 females have used the SafePad inside the Assyan Camp, and 350 females just outside the camp. The SafePad is tested and certified by The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
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Hand washing is said to take some crisis-affected people more than 12 hours a week, preventing some women and girls in charge of the task from pursuing education and straining their bodies, leading to chronic back and joint pain. Iraq RIL has supported the UK-based Divya hand-cranked washing machine with seed-funding and connections into the humanitarian ecosystem. The machine has three phases: wash, clean, and dry. All three phases run in 15 minutes and use less water than it takes to wash by hand. Iraq RIL believes the washing machine pilot is likely to improve the lives of displaced women and girls affected by the crisis in Iraq. To date, 200 people have been reached with The Washing Machine.
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The Iraq RIL has been engaged with PHARX by supporting them both technically and financially. In Iraq, there are challenges with the readability of doctors’ prescriptions, limited guidance on the use of medicine, and lack of transparency on prices at pharmacies. In response, a local innovator developed PHARX, a mobile application that provides information to patients about the availability and prices of medications in certified pharmacies around them, enabling patients to decide where to buy the products at the best price. The patient takes a picture of their prescriptions and sends the request to the mobile application. Within minutes, PHARX partner pharmacies that have the medication in stock can respond with the price and details. The patient is then able to choose the best offer. To date, Pharx has reached 170 pharmacies registered in the app, which is 4x its initial target!
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Iraq RIL is working with Lifeshelter, a new and innovative shelter and classroom solution for refugees and internally displaced populations. The Lifeshelter is a high-quality shelter solution that ensures better living conditions in refugee camps while respecting the environment and supporting local economic growth. Unique insulating panels are used to ensure a more energy-efficient and healthier indoor environment in all climates, which also makes it resistant to all weather conditions. The characteristic curvy design provides highly durable and stable construction, thus, restoring the sense of safety and privacy for people living in cramped and tense settings. Based on the piloting of Lifeshelter in the Iraq RIL, other organizations have utilized it in different responses.

>> Click here to see a short video.

Part of the RIL Somalia’s work has been to research and map the Somali Innovation Ecosystem for the benefit of all actors working in Somalia and those who wish to enter into the market. This work shows the vibrancy of the current landscape, the connections that are possible between existing actors, and the opportunities that exist for further collaboration and innovation within the context.

The RIL has curated a digital exhibit to shine a spotlight on a selection of innovations identified as part of this mapping that is creating impact in their respective fields. The initiatives profiled have been carefully selected to showcase the diversity that is flourishing in a wide range of sectors. The innovations cover a broad range; online platforms, to low-tech last-mile solutions, solutions driven by the private sector in response to market demand, and innovations that aim to strengthen the learning outcomes of children in Somalia. Some of these initiatives are well established, and some are constantly iterating and adapting to stay relevant in a changing context. What all these innovations have in common is that they are contributing to building a brighter future for everyone in Somalia.

>> Click here to see the Somali Innovation Spotlight.

With support from RIL Somalia, the Digital Attendance Application (DAA) has been scaled to Somalia. DAA is an application developed by UNICEF and students at the University of Nairobi’s C4D Lab who later formed Sisitech, a Nairobi-based global software company. DAA tracks student attendance quickly, safely, and efficiently to support learning and school re-entry, thus providing insight on out-of-school children and dropouts. RIL Somalia and World Vision worked with Sisitech to pilot the DAA in the Puntland, to keep children in school, learning, and in a supportive environment.

The DAA has an interest from the Somali government and other partners to adopt and improve attendance tracking. Additionally, the Ministry of Education would like to have the DAA integrated into the Education Management Information System being developed.

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Response Innovation Lab Somalia launched a report presenting the findings from the two-year, OFDA funded RISE innovation ecosystem mapping study. The study seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the key actors, factors, and relationships within Somalia’s humanitarian innovation sector as a result of the work done over the last two years. Specifically, the study identifies needs, opportunities, and gaps in the existing ecosystem as well as potential barriers to and drivers of a successful, thriving innovation ecosystem.

>> Click here to see the interactive report and engage with the full data set.

The Uganda RIL produced a mapping of existing Education Technology (EdTech) in Uganda (and neighboring countries). It is the product of a targeted Task Team formed by the Education in Emergencies Working Group, co-convened with theAga Khan Foundation and in partnership with Briter Bridges. To maximize efficiencies, effectiveness, collaboration, and scale of these solutions, a comprehensive mapping of the existing EdTech landscape (spanning profit and non-profit, humanitarian and development initiatives) was completed. This mapping will enable better coordination, reduce duplication, highlight partnership, and scaling opportunities, and promote efficiency in investment decisions in this sector. The report provides an analysis of 36 solutions/projects.

>> Click here to access the report.

A green challenge for local entrepreneurs
Funded by RVO/Netherlands and DANIDA, the RIL Uganda, in partnership with Mercy Corps and SNV organized a field-level multi-stakeholder convene event at a refugee settlement to map challenges in accessing clean energy for refugees and host communities, environmental aspects of humanitarian operations and other environmental and energy challenges in this setting. The results of this event guided the design of the Green Innovation Challenge Fund. The RIL then coordinated the competitive selection process of four top applications. The following pilots are currently underway and a Green Innovation Catalogue is being designed to share learnings on those pilots and other innovative solutions in the field of energy and environment which have been mapped.

• ENVenture: A social enterprise that creates last-mile community-based energy cooperatives by linking them with certified suppliers and providing business-development support

• Kumi Kumi: A digital marketplace for refugees that tests point-collection system for refugees to unlock access to clean energy solutions

• Raising Gabdho Foundation: A social enterprise national NGO that developed a holistic model to support community entrepreneurship in the energy sector to transform beneficiaries of distribution of energy assistance into providers of solutions using low-tech

• ANCHOR: A national NGO that focuses on peace-building and social behavioral change that will partner with VIAMO the international social enterprise to test if Interactive Voice Response can encourage increased adoption of clean energy solutions

Akaboxi is a Ugandan software startup that provides a digital financial inclusion system to enable community-saving groups to manage and monitor their savings together. Akaboxi helps saving groups of 20-25 members, who are generally women farmers or young people in rural areas and excluded from financial services, digitalize their bookkeeping, replace the traditional cash box, and open accounts at formal financial institutions. A pilot is ongoing in the refugee settlement of Kiryandongo in partnership with Save the Children. Based on successful initial findings showing increasing trust of members of saving groups into their saving schemes and accelerating their contributions, RIL invested a second round of funding (bringing the total support to USD 17,000) to help Akaboxi iterate based on the learnings of the first phase.

>> Click here to read about financial training.

Response Innovation Lab Uganda, the International Rescue Committee and IMPACT Initiatives formed the U-LEARN partnership and are launching a 3-year DFID-supported program. U-LEARN is designed to support improvements in the quality and accountability of refugee crisis and nexus programming, in collaboration with a range of actors, institutions, and individuals across Uganda. The RIL is leading on implementing the consortium and is responsible for the delivery of the Learning Hub. The Learning Hub will be a facility that will curate, generate and support the uptake of the project, organization and response-wide learning, innovations, best practices, and solutions to achieve systemic change from implementation to policy level. It will be cross-sectoral and accessible to all stakeholders in the emergency and nexus programs.

The Puerto Rico RIL worked with the NASA Disaster Program to transfer all their databases, satellite imagery, and information available to the RIL. Part of the agreement was to provide specialized training which began with a three-day event and included a panel from the Aero-Space industry who addressed the application and usage in their cluster. Future work will consist of the development of algorithmic data cubes created by NASA scientists to allow for an easy query of the databases and the linking of imagery with data for first responders. Currently, the access to the servers from NASA and the PRSTRT are linked, and the entrance is open to the public. The next training is scheduled on Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems and will happen before the coming hurricane season.

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The Puerto Rico RIL hosted a contest for 6-12th grade students from all public and private schools on the island. The contest was a call for local students to develop concepts and prototypes of technology, systems that better a response. An orientation was provided to the teachers and university Professors on the RIL methodology, to support the development of the student-led solutions. Currently, a request to have the methodology translated and available before the start of the next school year is being considered.

The biggest concern from the 14+ months of electricity disruption post-Hurricane Maria is the effects on multiple municipalities and thousands of island residents making life support services unavailable. While this is being addressed through the installations of photo-voltaic and other alternative energy options, customers and industry purveyors have been hampered by the lack of universal financing contracts and a single APR. Banking and other financial intermediaries have been slow in offering financing options. RIL had instituted a number of cluster meetings and participated with Clinton Global Initiative to develop 1) consensus on workforce development 2) creating a universal contract 3) a standard APR. Fidecoop was the first institution to adopt the recommendations and institute a loan program with a pool of $42 million dollars for commercial loans. The autonomous Savings & Loan Cooperatives are considering the same for their institutions.

The Puerto Rico RIL conducted convenings with Parallel 18 start-ups and insurance industry leaders to seek an expedient and unencumbered insurance coverage solution without affecting the base-rate requirements and that would be allowed by local regulations. Parametric insurance was the best option for a new product and was adopted by the Multiple Insurance Cooperative to be developed by a commercial line. This new product is expected to be marketed prior to the next hurricane season.

Oxfam America conducted a field research project that shed light on the specific WASH-related challenges for community members from a gender perspective post-Hurricane Maria. Issues like maintaining home hygiene, hauling water, doing laundry by hand, and showering were taking a toll on community members. Domestic tasks were identified as falling disproportionately on the shoulders of women. A team from Oxfam America, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and Puerto Rico RIL carried out a pilot project based on the Oxfam study recommendations. The team has developed and executed a series of interactive workshops designed to strengthen community-level resilience through the creation of simple technology.

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The Jordan RIL facilitated an agreement between a financial expert and the Jordanian innovation accelerator Shamal Start. The agreement led to the creation of a financial/funding model for the Syrian refugees and host community start-ups. Shamal Start is using it to create a pool of funds to support start-ups north of Jordan from Syrian and host communities to attract investment after they graduate from the Shamal Start incubator program.

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