via The Prepaid Economy. From Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom, and Nina Weaver:
Humanitarian innovation that starts with communities
Even under the most challenging constraints, people find ways to engage in creative problem solving.Refugees, displaced persons, and others caught in crisis often have skills, talents, and aspirations that they draw upon to adapt to difficult circumstances. Although ‘humanitarian innovation’has been increasingly embraced by the humanitarian world, this kind of ‘bottom-up’ innovation by crisis-affected communities is often neglected in favour of a sector-wide focus on improving the effectiveness of organisational response to crisis. This oversight disregards the capabilities and adaptive resourcefulness that people and communities affected by conflict and disaster often demonstrate.More here