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  • Shahid learns to walk with her assistive devices to become independent and confident

    HI in Lebanon helps 11-year-old Shahid to walk again 28 September 2020

    Shahid was seriously injured in Syria in 2011 and has been unable to walk since. HI is providing physiotherapy and splints to get her back on her feet.

     

    • Lebanon
  • Ismail is pleased with his new prostheses

    HI helps anti-personnel victim Ismail live with dignity again 28 September 2020

    Ismail lost both legs in a landmine explosion at the age of 14. HI is now teaching him to walk again with his new prostheses.

    • Lebanon
  • HI has won awards in two categories: ? “Health and medical care” for the Tele?Rehabilitation?for All?project ? “Other humanitarian assistance” for the Odyssey2025/Drones project The awards will be presented during an online ceremony on 24 September 2020. This document contains talking points on innovation at HI / they are taken from an interview with Pierre Gallien, Director of 3I (Information, Impact, Innovation) / Innovation and Knowledge Management Division, 10 September 2020. ? Three questions for Pierre Gallien, Director of 3I (Information, Impact, Innovation) / Innovation and Knowledge Management Division 1 / What is the aim of innovation at HI? One of HI’s central objectives is to provide appropriate and effective humanitarian assistance to people unable to live without it. To achieve this goal, we regularly review our actions and methods, and innovation is one of the ways we continuously improve our humanitarian action. We monitor and select technological developments and social practices (internet, social media, developments in digitalisation, new uses of digital technology, etc.) and integrate them into our operating practices in order to respond to increasingly volatile and unstable humanitarian contexts impacted by the increase in natural disasters, climate change, worsening security conditions for humanitarian workers, etc. The digitalisation of rehabilitation, of which our telerehabilitation project is an example, will enhance our access to people with humanitarian needs in areas of response where humanitarian workers may face logistical or security challenges. 2 / Where does HI innovate? Functional rehabilitation and weapons clearance are HI’s priority areas and core competencies. Online physiotherapy sessions, the supply of 3D prostheses, and the use of drones in weapons clearance operations build on HI's long-standing actions. We have also innovated in the field of inclusive education. We took a highly innovative approach to ensuring the continuous supply of quality assistance during the COVID-19 lockdown, such as organising pandemic awareness sessions on YouTube. HI restricts its action to a limited number of pilot projects in order to focus on specific sectors and projects with operational applications. 3 / What is special about innovation at HI and in the humanitarian sector? Innovation at HI needs to be simple and frugal (i.e. inexpensive and resource-sustainable). We work in poor and unstable countries with limited access to technology and energy. Innovations must be easy to access and replicable locally. Our mine clearance drone project uses large, inexpensive commercial drones that everyone can access. Our 3D prosthesis printers are not the most powerful, but they are affordable and available commercially. 1 / The spirit of innovation at HI ? Since it was founded in 1982, innovation has enabled HI to fulfil its historic mission to provide beneficiaries with the most effective services possible. ? Innovation helps HI adapt: o HI keeps abreast of technological developments such as the internet and social media, and advances in digitalisation and new uses of digital technology, etc. ? Innovation and new practices can give rise to new solutions and efficiency gains in assisting vulnerable people. o HI adapts to changing humanitarian contexts impacted by the increase in natural disasters, climate change, and worsening security conditions for humanitarian workers. ? The aim of innovation at HI is to make it easier to access people with humanitarian needs in areas of response where humanitarian workers can face logistical or security constraints. ? As we had little or no physical access to beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic, we made changes to our activities in several countries (psychological support sessions by telephone, telerehabilitation, online COVID awareness campaign, etc.). ? The source of the latest technological tools, innovation also helps HI develop new working practices and new approaches to providing humanitarian assistance. 2 / Four operational goals of innovation at HI 1 / Better understand our areas of response ? When HI launches a humanitarian programme, it may lack knowledge and information on its area of response: o Drones used to support mine clearance operations in Chad, for example, provided deminers with aerial imagery and maps – a valuable source of information on an unfamiliar region. o After a natural disaster, drone or satellite images can provide HI's emergency teams with valuable information on access routes and help logisticians better organise the transport of humanitarian aid and its distribution to people in need. 2 / HI's mandate: providing rehabilitation care to better include people with disabilities ? As a reminder: rehabilitation - a form of care that promotes the physical mobility of people with disabilities - is essential to social and professional inclusion. Rehabilitation is HI's core competency. The inclusion of people with disabilities is its raison d’être. ? Innovations such as telerehabilitation aim to bring rehabilitation services closer to people with disabilities and ensure the better territorial networking of health services. o In poor or crisis-stricken countries, people with disabilities most often live in remote or hard-to-reach areas without access to the rehabilitation care they need. As a remote service, telerehabilitation makes up for this shortcoming. 3 / Narrowing the gap between experts and beneficiaries ? HI's digital innovations aim to bring its beneficiaries and experts (medical, rehabilitation, inclusion, inclusive education, etc.) closer together. HI’s challenge is to make its expertise as widely available as possible. o Our rehabilitation teams can use telerehabilitation to diagnose a person thousands of miles away, receive a scan of their stump, supply them with a prosthesis by printing it in the field, and then provide them with medical assistance. o HI has adapted school lessons to children with disabilities and made them available online in several countries. 4 / A duty of effectiveness ? HI innovates to make its actions more effective and provides sustainable solutions to implement immediately. o Logistically, for example, we are weighing up the advantages of using blockchain data management technology to improve the traceability of data on the transport of humanitarian aid ? This effectiveness must meet ethical standards in relation to the vulnerable people we assist, including children: o Innovation research at HI is overseen by the organisation’s ethics committee to ensure respect for human dignity (e.g. personal data protection). 3 / Managing innovation at HI 1 / Innovation at HI: frugality ? Innovation at HI must be simple and frugal (inexpensive and resource-sustainable). ? HI works in poor and unstable countries with limited access to technology and energy. The quality of the service provided to a population always takes priority over the technicality of the tools used. ? This is why innovation at HI is always pragmatic and adapted to the context: HI uses tools that are open to the public or reuses past solutions already in the public domain: ? Drones used in weapons clearance operations are inexpensive, commercially available, and accessible to all. ? Our 3D prosthesis printers are not necessarily the most powerful, but they are affordable and available commercially (the organisation can cover the cost of the investment). ? HI is nevertheless mindful of the need for quality humanitarian aid. Frugal innovation must not result in reduced levels of service. 2 / Innovation methodology at HI ? Pilot projects at HI are always integrated into ongoing field operations so they can be applied directly in “real-field conditions

    Innovation at HI 23 September 2020

    Three questions for Pierre Gallien, Director of 3I (Information, Impact, Innovation) / Innovation and Knowledge Management Division

     

    • France
  • Drone testing during a mine clearance operation with partner Mobility Robotics

    World first : HI locates mines buried underground 23 September 2020

    Xavier Depreytere, head of innovation projects at HI, explains why the drone demining project launched by HI in 2018 is a world first.
     

    • Chad
  • Horizon Prize laureates from the left to the right : Abder Banoune, Isabelle Urseau, Pierre Gallien

    European Union awards HI two prizes for its innovative projects 23 September 2020

    On 24 September, the European Union Horizon Prize for Affordable High-Tech for Humanitarian Aid honoured HI with two awards. These prizes recognise the organisation’s efforts to develop practical and effective solutions in order to enhance the care and treatment of vulnerable people.

     

    • France
  • Xavier Depreytere tests the first drone

    1982 - 2020 : Innovation is part of HI's DNA 23 September 2020

    On 24 September, the European Union Horizon Prize for Affordable High-Tech for Humanitarian Aid honoured HI with two awards. On that occasion, HI recounts its 38 years of innovation from 1982 to 2020. 

    • France
  • Kay Reh injured by an explosive device as he worked in a field

    Kay Reh injured by an explosive device as he worked in a field  3 September 2020

    Since 2012, HI has provided some 13,000 people living in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border with information on the risks from explosive devices.

     

    • Thailand
  • Nour Khalaf, 33, suffers from chronic lower back pain, which has grown worse since she fell in the second explosion.

    HI assisting the injured  3 September 2020

    Many of Beirut’s inhabitants have been affected by the explosions that ripped through the city’s port on 4 August. Nour Khalaf, 33, has chronic lower back pain, aggravated by a fall she suffered in in the second explosion.

    • Lebanon
  • Ramadan Haj Dandal, 23, and his mother Houriya from Aleppo, in their house in Beirut.

    Helping ease the suffering of injured people  2 September 2020

    Many of Beirut’s inhabitants have been affected by the explosions that ripped through the city’s port on 4 August. Ramadan, 23, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo, who now lives in Beirut, is one of them.

    • Lebanon
  • Hygiene kits are delivered to a school in the Diego district of Madagascar

    COVID-19 response: HI assisting schools in Madagascar  1 September 2020

    HI has worked in Madagascar for a quarter of a century. In recent years, it has successfully developed an inclusive and solidarity education programme which ensures the most vulnerable students, including children with disabilities, are enrolled in school. Today, sixty schools are trained in Covid-19 prevention measures.

    • Madagascar
  • Nada Baghdadi, 27, suffered a broken leg when two explosions ripped through the port of Beirut on 4 August.

    HI provides "first aid" to 500 people  1 September 2020

    Many of Beirut’s inhabitants were seriously injured when explosions ripped through the city’s port on 4 August. Nada Baghdadi, 27, suffered a severely broken leg.

     

    • Lebanon
  • Chafik Mia, 36, suffered a serious leg injury when his kitchen ceiling was blown in by the explosions that ripped through Beirut's port on 4 August.

    HI provides "first aid" to 500 people  1 September 2020

    Many of Beirut’s inhabitants were seriously injured when explosions ripped through the city’s port on 4 August. Chakif Mia, 36, suffered a serious leg injury.

     

    • Lebanon
  • Chafik Mia, 36, suffered a serious leg injury when the roof of his kitchen collapsed following an explosion in the port of Beirut on 4 August.

    HI provides 500 people with psychological "first aid" 28 August 2020

    The explosion in Beirut on 4 August traumatised an entire population. Over the last fortnight, HI’s teams have provided emergency psychological assistance to some 500 people.
     

    • Lebanon
  • Nada Baghdadi, 27, has a fracture in her leg caused by the explosion at Beirut port on 4 August.

    Lebanon: HI’s teams assisting the injured 28 August 2020

    HI’s teams are conducting rehabilitation sessions and providing psychosocial support for victims of the explosions that ripped through Beirut on 4 August.

     

    • Lebanon
  • Nipo Camp staff members take preventive measures to protect themselves from Covid-19 at work.

    COVID-19: HI is striving to protect vulnerable people by continuing its work in Thailand 13 August 2020

    Nipaporn Deang-Ro, one of HI’s physiotherapists, provides rehabilitation care in refugee camps. He explains how the organisation has adapted to the pandemic.

    • Thailand
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HI is an independent and impartial aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights.

HI is an independent and impartial aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights.

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