Even if you dream big, you have to start small.
Innovation is not about novelty or invention. It is about adapting to context.
Those are just three examples of UNHCR´s promotional items. Operations all around the world can order them at their own cost, and some have created a fixed annual budget for this purpose. We give those items away at events to promote UNHCR or to refugees who help us by giving feedback in participatory assessments. You can even buy them at the UNHCR Visitor´s Centre in Geneva. Promotional material serves the purpose of increasing media, donor, and public awareness of UNHCR efforts on behalf of persons of concern and promoting the refugee cause in general. And who knows? Writing a note with the UNHCR pen might even remind a government official of our position we talked about in that meeting two weeks ago.
At the same time, refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR are often not allowed to work, or face difficulties to find jobs and generate self-income. Still, even in large camps like Za’atari, small businesses mushroom every day, demonstrating the creativity and individual skills of refugees, even in the most difficult situations. These are natural survivors, with the kind of drive and ambition that make for fantastic entrepreneurs.
To sum this up: We use promotional items. We need someone to fabricate them. We´ve got the budget. We know there are creative refugees with the right enterprising spirit.
I guess by now you´ve got my point…
Why not satisfy UNHCR’s need for promotional material, while empowering refugees to use their entrepreneurial abilities and craftsmanship, increasing their self-reliance? Instead of trading with large companies that produce pens, caps, or t-shirts, let us engage refugees and make use of their creativity and entrepreneurial skills. The investments for the promotional items would entirely benefit refugee micro-entrepreneurs. This way, UNHCR would receive a better product and the funds would directly benefit persons of concern to UNHCR, instead of other companies outside a refugee context. As an additional benefit, the promotional value of such items would be instantly and sustainably escalated, if we told individual stories of the refugees who fabricated them.
In their sunny Nairobi workshop, refugee women in Heshima’s Maisha Collective concentrate on turning out school uniforms. © UNHCR/S.Camia
I´ve learned through this Innovation Fellowship that the best ideas often cause a “Why hasn´t this already been done?” reaction. Well, because change ain´t easy. And even if you dream big, you have to start small.
Therefore, we´ve decided to run a small pilot project in Costa Rica, where my colleagues Valentina Duque and Marine Khan have established great connections with refugee micro-entrepreneurs. Instead of sourcing some of UNHCR´s promotional items as part of the headquarters´ distribution system through the UPRISE project, we decided to produce promotional material to especially advertise the UNHCR Innovation Fellowship. Still, the items will be produced by refugees who will directly benefit from the Innovation Fellow Project Funding. (Thank you Vale and Marine for your great support!)
And since the Innovation Fellowship is all about creativity, we´ve invited those refugees to enter a contest for the best ideas for a promotional item, which they could fabricate in their own businesses in Costa Rica. After all, creativity and innovativeness are not exclusive skills of UNHCR staff…
With the kind support of our implementing partner APRODE (Asociación de profesionales en desarrollo para las personas en condición de pobreza – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005436465164&fref=ts), who specializes in micro-credits, about 130 refugee micro-entrepreneurs were invited, and we received a lot of interesting submissions.
So that´s where you come in: With your vote for your favorite promotional item in the poll below, you give a refugee in Costa Rica the chance to win a contract with UNHCR. Furthermore, if many people vote, this will give us the drive we need to scale the project and expand the idea. Hopefully, in the future, more and more of our promotional material will be produced by refugees and the budget UNHCR regularly spends on promotional material will be redirected from big business to directly benefit our persons of concern.
Thank you very much in advance for your participation. We´ve put this poll on facebook, twitter, and our websites, and it would help the cause a lot if you shared this poll with your friends. And thank you, Corinne, for making this happen!
If you are interested in staying up to date on the results of the poll and what happens afterwards, please like our Innovation Fellow facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/UNHCR-Innovation-Fellows/536809719735126
Read more about Markus and his project here.
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