JI-RISE - Jameel Institute, Real-Time Intelligent Support for Emergencies

28.04.2026 Setting the Research Agenda

The JI-RISE (Jameel Institute – Real-time Intelligent Support for Emergencies) project is a collaborative research initiative led by Imperial College London, bringing together academic and operational partners to strengthen decision-making in emergency and conflict-affected settings. The project focuses on developing real-time, data-informed tools to support public health responses.

Within this framework, the Geneva Water Hub contributes by focusing on the interface between water, public health, and conflict contexts, in particular at the intersection of WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and health systems.

Our role is not to develop predictive models directly, but to ensure that modelling efforts remain grounded in empirical realities. This includes providing field-based knowledge, contextual analysis, and socio-institutional insights to support the relevance and applicability of the models in real-world emergency settings.

A central component of this work is carried out in collaboration with Dr Reem Abu Shomar, whose expertise in WASH and public health in Gaza plays a key role in the project. Her work includes ground-truthing data, supporting knowledge integration, and contributing to research outputs and policy-relevant guidance.

One of the main ongoing outputs is a peer-reviewed article examining antimicrobial resistance in healthcare facility water systems in Gaza, based on data collected prior to October 2023. This work provides a critical baseline for understanding current risks in a context where systematic monitoring has become extremely limited.

In parallel, a policy brief is under development to translate these findings into operational recommendations for humanitarian and health actors, following a One Health approach.

More broadly, the project also includes a qualitative and socio-institutional component aimed at better understanding how interventions actually function in conflict-affected environments, including constraints related to governance, implementation, and uneven vulnerabilities across populations.

The Geneva Water Hub's contribution ultimately aims to strengthen the operational relevance of the project by bridging modelling, field evidence, and policy engagement.