Expression of interest: Humanitarian Health and Climate Collaborative – Ethiopia Anchor Institutionnew

Overview

Elrha is seeking to identify a single anchor institution to act as the national secretariat, operational coordinator and strategic home for the Humanitarian Health and Climate Collaborative (HHCC) in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has been selected as the first national hub, creating an opportunity to establish a credible, country-led mechanism that strengthens local capacity, informs national decision-making and contributes learning to wider regional and global efforts on climate and health in humanitarian crises.

Elrha is a global organisation that strengthens humanitarian action by supporting the generation, use and scale of research and innovation that improve outcomes for people affected by crises. The HHCC will bring together public health, climate, humanitarian, research, government and community actors to generate, test and use evidence for more anticipatory and adaptive health action in crisis settings.

Objective

The anchor institution will provide leadership, convening and operational stability for the Ethiopia hub. It will:

• National secretariat and coordination: Host the HHCC secretariat, assign core personnel, manage hub operations and act as a trusted convening point across government, academia, meteorological services, humanitarian responders and crisis-affected communities.
• Governance and priority setting: Establish and convene a national multi-sectoral Steering Group and help identify one or two priority climate hazards for focused collaborative action.
• Ecosystem scoping and programme design: Lead participatory ecosystem scoping to map evidence gaps, operational challenges, active initiatives, data sources, research questions and innovation opportunities, then co-design the Years 2–5 programme of work.
• Evidence translation and uptake: Connect climate information with health-sector contingency planning and support the translation of evidence into national policy, planning and frontline humanitarian practice.
• Grant management readiness: Establish the governance, technical review, financial management and due diligence systems needed to assume devolved research and innovation grant-making responsibilities from Year 2, subject to institutional assessment and systems readiness.

Timeline

• 2 November 2026: invitation for expressions of interest
• 20 November 2026: Deadline for EOI submissions
• December 2026: Communication on grant award (expected)
• December 2026 - January 2027: Due diligence and contracting completed (anticipated)
• January 2027: Start of grant (anticipated)

Funding and opportunity details

• Opportunity type: Invitation for expressions of interest to become the HHCC Ethiopia Anchor Institution.
• Programme length: The programme is intended to run from January 2027 to October 2031, subject to funding confirmation.
• Total programme envelope: Up to £2.4 million with approximately 80% intended for research, innovation and implementation grants delivered through the collaborative platform.