Press Release
April 18, 2023 • 2 min read
Today, GOAL is announcing the launch of a powerful collaboration with EY Ireland to support the activation of GOAL’s Humanitarian Innovation Fund. The €150,000 fund, financed by Irish Aid and managed by GOAL’s Programme Innovation Lab, is open to applicants from GOAL’s Global Team and country programme who successfully pitch innovative ideas that respond to the challenge of overcoming humanitarian crises which have the potential to scale. EY Ireland has committed to supporting GOAL with people, insights and expertise across the application, shortlisting, and selection process. The EY Strategy and Transactions team will also provide mentorships to innovation project teams that win support from the Innovation Fund.
In GOAL, an innovation must be a new perspective, process, or product, which represents an improvement over what was previously in place, and that delivers a solution to address a significant humanitarian challenge. GOAL is operational in 14 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America and its humanitarian aid programming environment is complex and fragile. GOAL’s Humanitarian Innovation Fund, now in its second year, recognises the necessity of innovation to overcome humanitarian crises and build resilient communities. With EY’s global reach and impressive track record of cultivating innovation, GOAL will benefit from this dynamic partnership to tackle many of these challenges.
GOAL has identified two priority themes under its 2023 Humanitarian Innovation Fund, including:
- Health: The Innovation Fund will support innovations that increase capacities to respond to health crises including outbreaks of infectious diseases and maternal and newborn health, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. This also includes innovations relating to improved WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) and nutrition.
- Resilience: Applying a resilience lens to humanitarian response is key to supporting affected populations to move beyond crisis. The Innovation Fund will prioritise innovations that can help progress the ambition of Crisis to Resilience, with special attention given to climate change-related innovations (e.g., innovations that will seek to reduce the absorption of greenhouse gas emissions)
Commenting on the EY collaboration, GOAL’s Partnership Manager, David Burns confirmed: “We are delighted to welcome EY onboard as a key strategic partner to GOAL’s Humanitarian Innovation Fund. EY bring a wealth of experience and expertise working with innovators to provide the practical and strategic advice required to scale their ideas from initial concepts to scaled enterprises with the ability to reduce humanitarian crisis.”
Alan Large, Strategy and Transactions Director at EY Ireland said: “Social entrepreneurship has the power to make a positive difference and act as a catalyst for lasting social change. Fostering innovation and supporting those leading the way to address today’s most critical societal issues, is at the core of EY Ripples, our global CSR program, and EY’s goal of “Building a Better Working World”. We look forward to partnering with GOAL to support the important work carried out by their Humanitarian Innovation Fund”.
For more information, please visit https://www.goalglobal.org/innovation/
