Impact Funding Resources
The Refugee-led Innovation Fund proposes a fundamental shift in programme architecture. It takes a grassroot approach whereby people who have experienced forced displacement or statelessness are directly provided with meaningful financial resources and support to implement innovative approaches.
The Fund supports innovation by all organizations led by people with lived experience of forced displacement or statelessness – including refugees, asylum-seekers, the internally displaced, returnees, and stateless people – that are recognized within their communities due to their past significant contributions.
The Fund supports innovation by all organizations led by people with lived experience of forced displacement or statelessness – including refugees, asylum-seekers, the internally displaced, returnees, and stateless people – that are recognized within their communities due to their past significant contributions.
End Date22 Aug 2025 Funding AmountUpto USD 45k Funding Resource TypeGrant
Funding ProviderUNHCR
Grant
UNHCR
The Fund supports innovation by all organizations led by people with lived experience of forced displacement or statelessness – including refugees, asylum-seekers, the internally displaced, returnees, and stateless people – that are recognized within their communities due to their past significant contributions.
A refugee-led organization is defined as a group of people that is either:
• Primarily led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons: This means that more than half of the leadership roles within the organization, including decision-making positions, are held by individuals who are refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced, returnees, or stateless.
• Or jointly/equally led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons and host communities: This means that the organization has an equal distribution of leadership and decision-making roles between members of forcibly displaced or stateless communities and individuals from host communities.
Organizations meeting either of the criteria listed above are eligible to apply to the Fund.
Only organizations led by people with lived experience of forced displacement or statelesness are eligible to apply.
This includes groups led by refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees, and stateless people. It is important to note that an organization is defined as a group of individuals working together toward shared goals, rather than an individual applicant.
We accept applications from existing organizations, both registered and unregistered, that are recognized within their communities thanks to their meaningful contributions.
The main criteria considered during the selection process will be:
• Challenge framing (15%): The proposal must clearly define the specific challenge the organization aims to address. This includes demonstrating a strong understanding of the issue within its context, supported by insights gathered from the experiences, needs, or perspectives of community members. The challenge should be both relevant and significant, whereby solving it would lead to tangible improvements for displaced or stateless communities.
• Innovation (30%): The proposed idea must be highly creative, novel, or original, representing a fresh approach for refugee-led organizations to address challenges within their communities, either locally or globally. Projects may draw upon existing ideas tested in other contexts, provided they demonstrate points of difference, thereby not replicating or simply continuing efforts already implemented.
• Community leadership and participation (20%): The idea emphasizes co-creation methods and an Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) approach. It clearly identifies the leading role of communities, users, and partners/stakeholders in the design and implementation of the project.
• Implementation details (15%): The viability of the project will be thoroughly considered, including timelines, resources, objectives, and sustainability from the outset.
• Impact/sustainability/scale (20%): The idea should demonstrate the potential to significantly benefit or add value, both directly and indirectly, to the lives of refugees, displaced, and stateless individuals, as well as their host communities, in both the short and/or long term. It should also show potential for sustainability beyond the funding period, either through community ownership, partnerships, or integration into existing systems. When possible, the idea should present a clear pathway toward further scaling or replication in other contexts.
Only applications that receive a score of 80% or higher will be invited to proceed to the next phases of the selection process.
