Marian Abouzeid and Shahram Akbarzadeh from ADI have secured £113,268 from UK-based charity Elrha via a sub-contract from the American University of Beirut (AUB) for a project titled “Global Prioritization Exercise (GPE) Regional and National Actors Consultations on Humanitarian Research and Innovation”.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Marian Abouzeid and Shahram Akbarzadeh have been awarded a subcontract of GBP 113,268 from the American University of Beirut (AUB) to co-lead an international consortium and conduct a series of regional and national consultations on humanitarian research and innovation. This work is part of a landmark Global Prioritisation Exercise (GPE) co-ordinated by UK-based charity Elrha. The GPE is a multi-pronged research effort that seeks to identify humanitarian research and innovation priorities and transform the impact of research and innovation, with the ultimate objective of improving the way in which the humanitarian system responds to crises and serves populations in need.

Alongside colleagues from AUB, Abouzeid and Akbarzadeh will serve as co-principal investigators, with Abouzeid also serving as Project Director. A collaborative alliance built on academic – practitioner and Global North – South partnerships, the Regional and National Humanitarian Consultations Consortium comprises leading academic and humanitarian operational partners from across the globe. The Consortium will undertake consultations in five geographic regions and three national settings, to identify gaps and needs and gauge humanitarian research and innovation priorities within and between regions.  These consultations build on the GPE Mapping exercise, led and co-ordinated by AUB and supported by Deakin / Abouzeid as Consortium Deputy Lead, which has mapped and characterized humanitarian research and innovation investments, actors, and outputs following the landmark World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. 

Findings of the GPE will be widely disseminated by Elrha and Consortium partners.