Humanitarian Innovation Forum was Hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, from February 11-13

Last week, Response Innovation Lab was in Nairobi at the Humanitarian Innovation Forum, a partnership with Elrha and with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Norad - Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The Forum brought together a diverse group of actors including humanitarian innovators, humanitarian organisations, funders, impact investors, and researchers to discuss the pressing challenges facing humanitarian innovations and envision the collective movement for the future to better support the communities.

"Innovation in humanitarian settings matters more than ever now. We can do more with less if we focus on investing in innovation and work with startups and private sectors," said our Somali Response Innovation Lab Lead, Utsav Kharel, during a panel discussion.

"Innovation is not part of the solution; it is the solution... Ask not what humanitarian innovators can do for you, but what you can do for humanitarian innovators—and what we all can do together for people in need," emphasized our Global Director, Max Vieille, in his closing remarks.

There were some big questions asked during the Forum:

🔹 Are we solving the right problems? Our first deep-dive challenged us to consider whether humanitarian innovation is truly addressing the most pressing needs of affected communities—or if institutional and funding constraints are distorting priorities.

🔹 Is the power in the right place? Conversations unpacked the need for genuine community leadership in innovation, pushing beyond tokenistic engagement to meaningful shifts in decision-making power.

🔹 What are you calling boring? The often-overlooked “how” of innovation took centre stage, with discussions on working better within compliance and procurement systems to foster agility and creativity.

🔹 Innovation in action – We explored a range of new solutions, from reproductive rights and menstrual health to safe water tools and bridging the humanitarian digital divide. These highlighted the vital role of innovation in solving the unsolved and improving the lives of those experiencing crises. It also raised a key question: should we focus on scaling out what works, or is it really about understanding what works at scale?