Humanitarian Innovation Programme in Emergency Response (Hiper)
The WFP Hiper program supports innovative science and technology solutions for waste management, WASH, and resilience in the first 60 days of humanitarian crises.
Funder: World Food Programme
Due Dates: Rolling (applications accepted year-round)
Funding Amounts: Up to $100,000 in equity-free funding per project; additional support possible for scale-up; duration varies by phase.
Summary: Supports innovative solutions for emergency response in waste management, WASH, and personal/community resilience during the first 60 days of crises.
Key Information: Open to global innovators, startups (for-profit or nonprofit), and WFP teams; solutions must be at least MVP stage and relevant to humanitarian emergencies.
Description
The Humanitarian Innovation Programme in Emergency Response (Hiper) is a global initiative led by the World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator and UNHRD. Its mission is to transform crisis response in the first 60 days by identifying, accelerating, and scaling high-impact product innovations. Hiper focuses on critical humanitarian areas: waste management (including debris removal and plastic reuse), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and personal/community resilience, including psychological adaptability. The program leverages cross-sector collaboration, real-world testing, and the sharing of best practices to strengthen humanitarian systems and the communities they serve.
Hiper’s five-phase approach—Discover, Mobilize, Catalyse, Accelerate, and Enable scale—supports innovations from ideation through deployment and scaling. The initiative is open to innovators and solution providers worldwide, offering access to WFP’s extensive field operations, technical support, and a pathway to scale for selected innovations.
