Frequently asked questions
Find answers to some of the questions we hear most often below. For other enquiries, get in touch directly.
For the eligibility criteria of the various innovation opportunities we offer, please click on the relevant link below:
If you’re a UNHCR colleague or a member of a refugee-led organization with a so-far untested idea, you may be able to secure support through the Innovation Incubator. If your idea is already being tested and you are looking to scale or strengthen its impact, you may also be interested in our Accelerator, which supports selected teams to further develop, validate, and grow promising innovative solutions in humanitarian contexts. We do not currently offer other funding opportunities, but you could explore partnering with UNHCR through local offices. Get in touch with your local UNHCR office directly or, if your idea is not specific to a country, feel free to contact us with a summary of your idea and the challenge it seeks to address.
The answer depends on the stage of your innovation. Our Innovation Incubator is designed to nurture early-stage ideas that are still being developed, tested, or validated. If you are exploring a problem, developing a solution, or running initial pilots, the Incubator may be the best fit. Our Accelerator is designed to support more mature innovations that have already demonstrated potential and are ready to scale, strengthen evidence, or expand their impact. If you’ve already done some testing and have some promising early results, the Accelerator might be the right choice. Please visit the relevant Incubator and Accelerator pages, to explore in more depth the kinds of projects they aim to support. If you are still unsure, get in touch and we’ll help point you in the right direction.
We welcome conversations with organizations interested in collaborating to advance humanitarian innovation.To learn more about partnership opportunities, please visit our Partner with us page. If you have a specific idea or proposal, we encourage you to reach out to us directly through the contact information provided there.
All our job and internship opportunities are posted on the UNHCR Careers page and ReliefWeb when available. We do not accept volunteers, but you could check out UN Volunteers for opportunities across the UN ecosystem.
We love that you’re interested in humanitarian innovation! However, we can’t financially support your studies.If you’re working on a thesis related to humanitarian innovation, do get in touch. Note, though, that we are not able to provide confidential data for academic purposes. Data made public by UNHCR may be found at UNHCR's Operational Data Portal.