Innovation Projects run by UN Entities

When financial products and services are used effectively by the underserved population, they have the potential to strongly impact people’s lives. As a result, this study was conducted to encourage a shift in focus from examining access to finance to understanding actual usage of financial products. More precisely, the study demonstrates the potential of Big Data analytics to generate granular sex- and youth-disaggregated information on the use of financial services, and to apply insights to inform product development and policy making.

As refugees and migrants travel across multiple borders, they encounter increasing protection risks, particularly when routes change, legal practices evolve and borders close. This forced displacement represents a challenge for humanitarian organizations working to provide assistance to people fleeing dangerous situations. This project used data from Twitter to monitor protection issues and the safe access to asylum of migrants and refugees in Europe. In collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Global Pulse created a set of taxonomies that were used to explore interactions among refugees and between them and service providers, as well as xenophobic sentiment of host communities towards the displaced populations. Specifically, the study focused on how refugees and migrants were perceived in reaction to a series of terrorist attacks that took place in Europe in 2016. The results were used to develop a standardized information product to improve UNHCR’s ability to monitor and analyse relevant social media feeds in near real-time.

UNICEF's Laaha platform is a groundbreaking virtual safe space designed specifically to empower women and girls facing humanitarian crises. Launched in response to a commitment made during the Generation Equality Forum in 2021, Laaha represents a collaborative effort between UNICEF, USAID, the Government of Finland, and the Open Society Foundation (OSF). Through Laaha, UNICEF has pioneered strategies to bridge the gender digital divide, ensuring equitable access to vital resources and support for women and girls in crisis situations. Moreover, Laaha has been instrumental in addressing Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) by implementing robust safety measures, fostering digital literacy, and providing a secure platform for communication and support. Laaha's development journey included a co-creation process with affected communities through human-centered design.