In Syria, an innovative idea takes root
Hamza Saleh knew he had a good idea — one that would make a difference for the communities he serves in Syria. The UNHCR Innovation Fellowship gave him the tools he needed to start making this idea a reality.
Unlike many of his 2022 cohort, Hamza Saleh, Field Assistant in UNHCR’s Damascus Field Office, began the UNHCR Innovation Fellowship with an innovative idea at the ready.
Hamza — a mechanical engineer who had been working with the UN Refugee Agency in Syria since 2017 — had noticed a common theme on many of his visits to returnees in the countryside. “When you have a situation or an emergency or a crisis, everything is affected,” he says. “But we always ask people, please prioritize what are your top three main problems.” And what he kept hearing was: lack of electricity, fuel, and water.
When you have a situation or an emergency or a crisis, everything is affected.
Each of these shortages was a significant issue in its own right. And Hamza could see that one of the solutions that was being applied to address the issue of water pumping — which had knock-on effects for sanitation, health, and agriculture, and which was rendered impossible without fuel or electricity — had a few limitations.
UNHCR was providing solar panels to individual boreholes to ensure unbroken supply despite blackouts or fuel shortages. But the legal documents the owners of the wells had to sign to enable the solar installation were a bit off-putting and, even once the panels were in place, they only benefitted a certain number of people within a certain area — because they were fixed — and they might only pump enough water for drinking.
It was better than nothing, but Hamza thought this approach could be optimized or supplemented. His innovative idea? A trailer-mounted solar-powered water pump — one that could be moved from place to place.
With this solution, you’d be able to pump water from many different wells, across a wider area, requiring no long-term commitment from well owners. “There’s a lot of entities that said ‘we can be the custodians of it’,” he recalls. “And that’s why I started talking with people.” At the time, Hamza was speaking with farmers who were seriously considering moving away from wheat cultivation, because diminished water supply was reducing yields.
Even as food security came to the forefront with the invasion of Ukraine, Hamza couldn’t quite get traction. He puts it down to his presentation style. “I talked with colleagues but it wasn’t clear from my side,” he says, laughing. “I talked a lot — put all the ideas together, you know, spontaneously!”
Then, he saw an email about the Innovation Fellowship — a learning programme that builds the innovation skills of people from both within and outside the UNHCR community. The opportunity to explore, collaborate, and experiment with solutions to real life challenges immediately appealed. Hamza applied and got in.
I have this problem … let’s see how innovation will help me fix it.
“From the first day, this is on my mind,” he recalls. “The outcome of this Fellowship should be this project. … I have this problem, and let’s see how innovation will help me fix it.” In fact, as Saleh saw it, he had two problems. The second was simple: the technical specifics of how to make his idea a reality. The first, though, was intimidating: how to present his idea to secure buy-in so he could actually get started.
To begin with, he wasn’t sure the Fellowship would give him the tools he needed. He laughs as he remembers how unfamiliar the learning style was at first. But he worked away, asking questions when he didn’t quite get something, until, during a workshop near the end of the programme, he had a lightbulb moment. “I really got it — the idea was so clear!” As the Fellows practiced their new skills, he had a sense of breakthrough.
I really got it — the idea was so clear!
“I like the way [the Fellowship facilitators] teach,” he says. “That’s how we teach our children swimming, you know. You throw them at the pool and you take them out!” The skills he picked up during this immersive, sometimes disorienting experience — how to shape and organize his ideas, how to demonstrate the challenge, how to speak about his solution — helped him to successfully plant the seed of his project.
He went about it gradually, building an understanding of his idea within his team over time. “I was always throwing glimpses and comments about this,” he says. “Two or three visits and you hear it a lot, you know? We have a water problem, we have a water problem, we have a water problem.” He would gather feedback from the community to report to his team: a farmer’s association said they could be custodians; maintenance could be covered with a small amount from each user.
Going through this process, and the Fellowship itself, wouldn’t have been possible without a degree of freedom. “I’m so happy, I got huge support from the management,” he recalls. “I would say, OK, I need this time for innovation. And khallas! They would understand that I need this space.” So, Hamza kept shaping his idea and cultivating his team’s awareness of it. Then, one day in February, his manager opened her door and said, essentially, Let’s do this.
Now, Hamza’s waiting for feedback on the concept note he’s put together. Funds have been set aside for his project. It’s been a hard few weeks in Syria, following the devastating earthquake on February 6, and he can’t help but think that, had his project been up and running already, it could’ve made a difference. “Yes, it may save lives,” he reflects.
Now I can organize my ideas. I can talk more about them. That’s really what I learned.
His mind is “jumping and jumping with ideas,” he says. “But now I can organize. I can talk more about them. That’s really what I learned.” Saleh is one of hundreds of UNHCR colleagues upskilled through the Fellowship. A true innovation ambassador, he hopes his project will not only make a difference on the ground, but also encourage colleagues to voice their innovative ideas.
“I’m so happy with this Fellowship, you know. So happy,” Hamza says, speaking with unbridled enthusiasm of his cohort’s diversity, the facilitators’ guidance, and the skills he learned. Now, he’s looking forward to continuing the innovation process as he develops his project further. “I’m even more excited for the things that are coming.”
You don’t have to have a fully fledged innovative idea to become an Innovation Fellow — you just need to be dedicated to finding new ways to solve tough challenges facing UNHCR and the people we serve. The 2023 Innovation Fellowship is about to launch: register here to be the first to know and apply.
