Applications open for the UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

The UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund is presently accepting applications from organizations that are led by forcibly displaced or stateless individuals across all nations.  The deadline for applications is 22 August 2025 at 23:59 Panama time. We encourage you to apply now!

Vision and Objective
The Refugee-led Innovation Fund advocates for the ingenuity of all displaced and stateless individuals. Its goal is to transform their involvement in humanitarian efforts by ensuring they are at the forefront of decisions that impact their lives, leading the identification of needs and the creation of innovative solutions.

The Fund offers comprehensive support – integrating financial resources, mentoring, and additional expertise – directly to organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless individuals, empowering them to design and implement new interventions that create a lasting positive effect on their communities.

About the UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

Organizations led by displaced and stateless individuals make significant contributions to their communities but encounter substantial obstacles in accessing direct and flexible funding. Frequently, they are marginalized from existing networks of entrepreneurs and innovators, leading to inadequate access to knowledge, information, and resources that could enhance their impact.

The Refugee-led Innovation Fund advocates for a fundamental transformation in program structure. It adopts a grassroots approach, providing individuals who have faced forced displacement or statelessness with substantial financial resources and support to execute innovative strategies.

Eligibility Criteria – UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

The Fund is designed to foster innovation among organizations that are led by individuals with firsthand experience of forced displacement or statelessness. This includes refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees, and stateless individuals who have been acknowledged within their communities for their notable past contributions.

Applicants must submit their applications as a team, representing an established organization composed of various community members. To be eligible, organizations must exhibit a collective structure. Individual applicants are not permitted. For a comprehensive understanding of the Fund’s eligibility criteria, please consult the FAQ titled “How do you define a ‘refugee-led organization’?” below.

The Fund welcomes applications from both registered and unregistered organizations that are recognized within their communities for their significant past contributions and initiatives.

Particular emphasis will be placed on supporting organizations led by LGBTIQ+ individuals, women, persons with disabilities, internally displaced and stateless individuals, Indigenous communities, and other marginalized groups, encouraging them to apply for the Fund.

What the Fund provides – UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

Selected organizations can anticipate the following benefits:

Financial assistance: Organizations may apply for funding of up to 45,000 USD (or its equivalent in local currency) to test and implement ideas that utilize strong community-based approaches, generating value for community members without being specifically tied to any thematic area or technology.

Program and project management assistance: Organizations receiving support will benefit from guidance provided by UNHCR and experts, aimed at enhancing their capacity to effectively design and implement programs.

Technical assistance and expertise: Tailored specialist advice will be available, covering a range of topics from technology to legal support and innovative methodologies.

Peer-to-peer networking: Supported organizations will be encouraged to connect with one another, exchange experiences, learn collaboratively, and explore potential partnerships.

A focus on learning: Support will be offered to help these organizations measure outcomes, evaluate their progress, and collect information to foster growth. They will be encouraged to document, share, and utilize relevant insights. Engaging in discussions and reflections with their communities will allow them to incorporate and respond to feedback.

Additional support, tailored to project requirements, may include organizational assistance, guidance on project sustainability and scaling, training on specific subjects, advice on business models, and support for media and communications.

How to apply – UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

Each year, we initiate a new call for applications, inviting organizations to submit their proposals via this online platform. In their proposals, organizations should detail the challenge they intend to tackle, their proposed solution, a budget, and the anticipated changes in their communities resulting from their project. For the year 2025, applications will be accepted until August 22.

These proposals undergo a four-phase selection process:

1) Proposal longlisting: The Innovation Service evaluates all submissions and identifies a longlist of promising applications.

2) Vetting and due diligence: Organizations on the longlist will undergo a comprehensive vetting and due diligence process to confirm their eligibility. This process includes verifying that at least 50% of the leadership of each organization consists of individuals with lived experience of forced displacement or statelessness. Supporting documentation must be submitted to validate this. Failure to meet this criterion or to provide the required documentation will lead to disqualification from the application process.

3) Pitch your idea: Organizations that successfully pass the vetting and due diligence phase will be invited to present their ideas to a selection committee made up of members from the UNHCR Innovation Service, along with representatives from the relevant UNHCR Country Operations and Regional Bureaus. This serves as an opportunity for organizations to elaborate on their submitted proposals and engage in discussions regarding their ideas. Organizations that effectively defend their concepts will be shortlisted and advance to the final phase of the selection process.

4) Final selection: The Fund’s Steering Committee, which includes forcibly displaced and stateless individuals, representatives from relevant UNHCR units at the global level, and, where possible, donor representatives, will review the shortlisted proposals. The Steering Committee will select the most promising ideas to be endorsed by the Fund.

Please note that this four-phase process takes several months to complete. It is also worth mentioning that this is a Fund dedicated to supporting innovation. As such, initiatives proposed must represent a novel approach to address an existing challenge in your community to be considered for support. 

Application – UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

• For details and to apply visit the official website
• deadline is 22 August 2025