Whether owing to crises and conflicts, natural disasters or the impacts of climate change, the need for humanitarian assistance is increasing around the world. Israel believes that it is incre​asingly important to make aid more innovative and effective for the people to receive the help they need in the future.  

Israel’s aid agency, MASHAV promotes innovation to develop tools that enhance preparedness and reduce fragility and risks. It does so mainly in developing countries through human capacity building to develop local capacities and sustainable solutions to produce life-saving items locally.

An example of this is Ethiopia, where Israel shared an innovative method based on daytime surveillance by drones and data analysis of locus swarms movements, followed by night spraying while the pests are static. This new method is vital as desert locusts are one of the most destructive pests globally, are highly mobile and feed on large quantities of green vegetation. An Israeli task force was sent to Ethiopia and handed over 2 tons of equipment and advanced appliances. The task force operated in the country for two weeks, during which it trained over 200 Ethiopian locust fighters, governmental agencies and international organizations representatives.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mashav has been very active in promoting innovative humanitarian assistance. In Ukraine, MASHAV cooperated with Ukraine’s Health Ministry to donate much-needed equipment to establish a COVID-19 testing lab. In Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon, Mashav donated 3D printers and a unique Israeli 3D printing design to local teams to manufacture 3D protective face shields. These were then distributed locally among teams standing at the forefront of the community response in fighting the spread of the pandemic.

Israel, through Mashav, will continue to provide innovative humanitarian assistance to tackle the increasing need for it around the world. We look forward to hearing about other projects and sharing ideas on ways innovation can make humanitarian assistance more effective in the future. 

I thank you.