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Affordable medicines for chronic conditions

Half of the 671,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan have a family member with a chronic illness, such as diabetes or hypertension. And many are unable to access the medicine they need, because it is too expensive. Read how the Medicine Bank redirects close to end of shelf life medicines to pharmacies offering low-cost drugs to refugees in Jordan.

Transforming a commonplace weed into food and jobs in drought-stricken northeast Kenya

Mathenge Maisha is a unique start-up, which turns a common drought-resilient weed into nutritious low-cost flour. Currently, nearly one million Kenyans are at risk from starvation as a result of prolonged drought. The Garissa-based project plans to employ local people, particularly from vulnerable groups, to collect the pods produced by the weed to be ground down into flour.

Affordable housing from unbaked bricks

Over the past few years, hundreds of people have perished in building fires in Dhaka, the most densely populated city in the world. Read how an architecture student sought to use her skills to improve the living conditions of people in the slum areas.

Fortified feed for livestock during droughts

Drought Cure is a nutritious food brick that can be stored for long periods to sustain livestock during droughts, which recurrently plague the Horn of Africa. Devised by a farmers' cooperative from Marsabit in Northern Kenya, the brick is a lifeline for pastoralists in the region, who rely on livestock for their livelihood. Read more about Drought Cure.

Innovative women’s dairy making a splash in northeast Kenya

The Mt. Marsabit Dairy is a women's cooperative diary in Marsabit County, northern Kenya that sources dairy products from individual suppliers and applies cutting-edge production techniques to offer longer life, affordable dairy products. The dairy supports the most vulnerable members of the community, especially pastoralist women, to earn a livelihood through a structured micro-milk collection system.

Beginning the design of the Start Financing Facility

We are pleased to announce that we are beginning the design of the Start Financing Facility (SFF) and are reaching out to give members of Start Network the opportunity to get involved in this process.

Professionalisation, participation and relationships

This paper looks at issues of ethics in humanitarian iunnovation in relation to the Mahali Lab in Amman, Jordan. This reflection piece by Kristin Bergtora Sandvik is the third in a three-part series that explore ethics questions faced by community-centred innovation labs. It is based on her experience as an ethics advisor to DEPP Innovation Labs, a two-year programme that manages labs in four disaster-prone countries. 

Local culture and everyday practice

This paper looks at translating innovation ‘culture’ into local culture, and innovation ethics into ‘everyday’ practice. This reflection piece by Kristin Bergtora Sandvik is the second in a three-part series that explore ethics questions faced by community-centred innovation labs. It is based on her experience as an ethics advisor to DEPP Innovation Labs, a two-year programme that manages labs in four disaster-prone countries (Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and Philippines). 

Starting the ethical journey

The paper introduces issues of ethics in humanitarian innovation. It is part of a three part series by Kristin Bergtora Sandvik that explore ethics questions faced by community-centred innovation labs.