Call summary :

Humanitarian needs may arise from several, interrelated factors, including extreme poverty and the effects of climate change, conflict, disaster, and displacement. The purpose of the open call is to support humanitarian actors and the humanitarian system in identifying, adapting, or integrating research, learning, and innovative approaches to improve the quality of humanitarian response and deliver better outcomes for people affected by crisis. This open call will focus on improving health outcomes and food security.

Areas of support

With this call, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is looking for applications focusing on?research, learning, and/or innovative approaches in humanitarian settings.
Applications should fall within one or more of the below sub-themes. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications that focus on both food security and health.

Food security:
- Improving food security in crises
- Strengthening the climate resilience of food systems in humanitarian operations

Health
- Improving cardiometabolic disease prevention and management in crises including its comorbidities, such as infectious diseases and mental health
- Strengthening the climate resilience of health systems in humanitarian operations

Applicants are encouraged to submit applications for projects with strategic relevance for the applicant and within their area of expertise. Applicants with a documented and existing capacity to reach people affected by crisis will be given preference.

The focus of the call is limited to the OECD DAC List of ODA Recipients in the following geographies: sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, South Asia, and Ukraine. For the categories Lower Middle Income Countries, the applicant must describe how the project will specifically focus on people in vulnerable situations or affected by crises from one or more of these geographies. Please see the Application guidelines for details on geographical scope.

The open call understands research and learning, and innovative approaches in the following way:

Research and learning:
- In this call, research is understood as the systematic effort to generate new knowledge, concepts, or intervention approaches to improve the outcomes for people affected by crisis.
- The research may include any suitable design, including operational and implementation sciences, and any appropriate methods. Data can be generated from any relevant source including the use of secondary and existing data and literature.
- Learning is understood as documentation and evaluation of humanitarian approaches and responses and must be shared across partners and sectors beyond the individual organisation or project.
- If an application falls within the research and learning category, the main applicant is expected to partner with a research or knowledge institution or document its own capacity.
- Regular monitoring and evaluation activities do not qualify as research nor learning.

Innovation:
- In this call, innovation is understood as an iterative process that identifies, adjusts, and diffuses ideas for improving humanitarian response.
- Innovation may include developing and piloting new concepts and approaches.
- If an application falls within the innovation category, the applicant(s) must describe the intended innovation and innovation process, and not merely state that the innovation and innovation process will be identified and developed during the project.
- Innovative financing will not be covered by this call.

Preference will be given to?applications containing one or more of the following approaches:
- Nexus approach
- Localization approach i.e. strengthening the capacity and involvement of local organizations and communities in affected countries and furthering more equal partnerships
- Approaches to promote inclusion, including gender mainstreaming

Eligibility

Proposed projects must directly relate to the provision of humanitarian assistance in emergencies, disaster prevention and preparedness, or recovery. It may also pertain to the provision of assistance to people affected by protracted and complex crises.

International humanitarian organizations are eligible to apply. An international humanitarian organization is understood as an organization with engagements in humanitarian settings in more than one country. Main applicants are encouraged to engage research or knowledge institutions, local organizations, regional networks or similar as co-applicants. Only main applicants and co-applicants that are not-for-profit are eligible to apply.

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