Call for Applications: AI for Humanitarian – Shaping Future Innovation

About Cohort

• The cohort will be part of a 6-month guided learning journey, where they will take part in group discussions and hands-on exercises trialling AI tools, hear from guest speakers and experts from the field to provide real-world insights in best and next practice, as well receive one-on-one support from mentors.
• At the end of this journey each grantee will have developed a concept note which will contain a clear problem statement, an analysis of the associated opportunities and risks, reflections on the feasibility of existing solutions both AI and other, and which, with the support of mentors, outlines potential future AI solutions of relevance to their chosen problem field. These concept notes will be shared publicly by Elrha as a final output and can be used by grantees to attract further investment to enable continued investigation. The final scope and structure of the concept notes will be refined in collaboration with the selected cohort of grantees.
• The cohort will also co-design a set of recommendations for funders and policymakers informed by the consultation and learning activities throughout their journey.
• To achieve the objective for this challenge each grantee will:
  • Develop their voice on, and deepen their understanding of, the potential of AI for their own work, developing a concept note which they could use to inform ongoing activity and spark new initiatives.
  • Give real time feedback on the learning journey curriculum to support the development of an open access tool for other humanitarian actors.
  • Connect with other practitioners, innovators and funders from across the humanitarian system to explore the potential of AI and make collective recommendations to decision makers.

Funding Information

• Funding available: up to £25,000 per grantee for up to 10 grantees

Who is eligible?

• They are seeking practitioners that have a deep understanding of the humanitarian problem they would like to explore and who know enough about the basics of AI and technology that they think AI could be and effective intervention to the problem. They should have experience of supporting or working with humanitarian communities in crisis. They would prefer practitioners with a connection to countries receiving official development assistance and in particular crisis affected countries. They will take a portfolio approach to selection, ensuring a diverse cohort of grantees.
• They welcome expressions of interest from individuals or teams. Teams of no more than 5 people will be considered, and the lead applicant must be part of a registered organisation. The HIF can only provide funding to a legally registered entity so the principal team member must be part of a legally registered organistion. Team members may be from the same, or different organisations, they may also not be employed by an organisation as long as the lead applicant is.
• Who is this for:
  • Practitioners in an organisation currently working in a humanitarian context or outside of a humanitarian context but directly involved in crisis response and support. This may include, but is not limited to, humanitarian response organisations (local/national/global), innovators or academics.
  • Practitioners who have an awareness of interventions which have been tried previously in the problem area they want to explore and what the opportunities and risks could be if an AI intervention was deployed. Are you aware of what didn’t work previously? And/or how an AI intervention potentially could be potentially more effective?
  • Those that can fully commit to the learning journey activities.
  • Basic computer literacy, competent in MS Office and in using online communication platforms like Zoom. The learning sessions will take place virtually so a stable internet connection will also be needed. Grantees will need to have an upper intermediate level of spoken English. As far as possible they will aim to translate all written materials into French, Spanish and Arabic. Please note this will be done using AI translation tools so may be imperfect However please note Elrha’s operational language is English and your application must be in English.
• Who this isn’t for:
  • People already working in the AI technology sector. The learning journey will be aimed at facilitating access and engagement.
  • Those wanting to develop a specific AI
  • Practitioners who are removed from the day-to-day challenges which occur in a humanitarian crisis. They are actively trying to bring together a cohort with a majority of local voices.
  • Individuals not part of a registered organisation.

For more information, visit Elrha.