Innovating with, and investing in, women forced to flee
The Innovation Service is supporting feminist changemakers around the world and accelerating progress for women, girls, and the communities they live in.
At UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, we know that gender equality is an urgent human rights challenge that requires sustained, strategic action — and that progress for women benefits us all. At UNHCR’s Innovation Service, we also know refugee women have remarkable ideas and aspirations that can drive that progress, if only they’re able to secure the support they need.
That’s why we’re investing in projects led by displaced women, developing gender-responsive guidance for humanitarian actors, and supporting forward-thinking initiatives that are ensuring women from both refugee and host communities have the skills, tools, and support they need to pursue their dreams and accelerate lasting positive change, for everyone.
This International Women’s Day, we’re taking stock of the work we’re doing to champion women, ameliorate poverty, promote gender-responsive financing, shift to a green economy, and support feminist changemakers.
Here’s some of the key facts and figures about that work over the last year:
🌱 86,000 neem trees planted, alongside 348,390 lemongrass cuttings, in Palorinya Refugee Settlement, Uganda, as part of an Environment and Climate Action Innovation project that is benefitting more than 7,000 women directly, thanks to upskilling in plant care and processing, as well as environmental benefits. Women’s groups have been trained on oil extraction and, once the neem and lemongrass reach maturity, production of mosquito-repellant products is expected to begin, addressing the high malaria rates in the camp and potentially generating livelihoods.
👩🏽💻 1,050+ women gain digital skills and digital risk awareness in order to safely pursue online activities, including digital livelihoods, across a range of contexts — from Tunisia and Egypt, to Malawi, Ethiopia, North Macedonia, and more.
👩🏾🌾 230 women farmers in Uganda’s Nakivale Refugee Settlement trained in vermicomposting and regenerative farming techniques by refugee-led organization UNIDOS Social Innovation Centre. Some 30% of participants have seen increased yields after the shift from typical chemical fertilizer, in addition to improved soil quality. Overall, food security has significantly improved, with farmers reporting fewer instances of food shortages despite escalating food prices and limited access to humanitarian aid.
🐟 102 women — including widows, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), single mothers, and persons with disabilities — gained digital literacy and technical skills for the establishment and maintenance of aquaponics infrastructure, through a Refugee-led Innovation Fund project run by women-led organization Women for Action. Three of the female participants who had never previously learned to read or write gained basic literacy skills in the course of the project, which ultimately aims to increase food security and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for women.
🫛 64% of all 200 participants in an innovative community gardening pilot in Medellin, Colombia, were women. This Environment and Climate Action Innovation project saw the construction of a hydroponic greenhouse, which serves as both an educational space and entry point for intergenerational and intercommunal dialogue to strengthen social cohesion. Women participated in workshops on seedling management and hydroponic cultivation, shared their own knowledge, and cultivated vegetables to boost local food security.
💡 80% or more of the UNHCR Innovation Service are women — a figure that jumps to 100% on our Data Innovation team. These feminist changemakers are committed to gender-responsive resource allocation and to breaking down gendered stereotypes in their work to champion innovative ideas from colleagues and communities.
📚 57% of the 86 UNHCR Innovation Fellows in 2024 identify as female — a gender split that is typical of this decade-old programme. These women, drawn from both within and beyond UNHCR, are gaining key innovation skills and methodologies that they can then cascade to colleagues and communities.
💻 47% of the young refugees trained on computer coding by a Data Innovation project in El Salvador were girls. Of the 19 participants who completed the Coursera e-training on the R programming language and received their certificates in a formal graduation ceremony, nine identified as female. All projects supported through the Data Innovation Fund record gender-disaggregated data and conduct analysis in a statistically representative way, for evidence-informed efforts to advance gender equality.
🛜 20 connectivity hotspots established around the Juan Montalvo neighborhood of Guayaquil, Ecuador, delivering affordable, blockchain-supported internet access to refugees, migrants, and their hosts. The network is maintained by 20 Network Guardians from the community, of which 14 are women. One of them, Desiree Núñez, shares her story here.
🤝 14 of the 43 community-based organizations supported so far through the Refugee-led Innovation Fund have been run exclusively by women. Others have women in their leadership structure and a focus on gender equality, while still more are led by members of the LGBTQI+ community.
🔧 12 women refugees with disabilities trained in electrical device repair and maintenance by refugee-led organization Redeeming Hope for the Disabled, in South Africa. Participants not only enjoy enhanced livelihoods opportunities, but also benefited from advocacy training to shift the narrative on disability.
🧺 10 Indigenous women artisans displaced from Venezuela to Brazil empowered to sell their products online, through e-commerce training. This project, supported through our Digital Innovation Fund, sought not only to boost the livelihood opportunities available to displaced Warao artisans, but also to ensure ancestral traditions, languages, and stories could be carried safely through displacement.
👩🏼💼 9 refugee women received comprehensive entrepreneurial support from Pabėgėlių Taryba (the Refugee Council of Lithuania) to pursue business ideas and boost their self-reliance, in a project supported by our Refugee-led Innovation Fund. Yulia from Ukraine, for instance, received training, tailored support, and ongoing mentorship and now runs her own business.
🌉 6 women-led, grassroots organizations selected for seed funding to bridge the digital gender divide facing displaced women and girls.
📜 1 guidance note produced to enable UNHCR colleagues and other humanitarian actors to identify and address the digital gender divide in their programming.
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We’re proud of the work these women and feminist changemakers have done — and we’re honored to support it. But we know there’s plenty more to do to address the gender gaps facing displaced women and girls, and to ensure they’re able to make the powerful, unique contributions to their communities and to the world that will accelerate progress for us all.
Read more about women forced to flee, and UNHCR’s work to support them. See a full list of our 72 Innovation Projects in 2024. Want to support women making a difference for refugees? Get in touch at innovation@unhcr.org.
