Live Crisis Alerts

A new era of humanitarian action

video

Start Fund: Tropical storm response, Somalia, 2018

Featured news

News Article

New tool launched for responsible use of scientific data within humanitarian projects

08Apr21

Blog Post

It's time to get serious about gender and early action

08Mar21

News Article

Innovative Approach to Insurance Enables Humanitarian Agencies To Proactively Manage Climate-Related Risks At Scale

24Feb21

News Article

New podcast launches to celebrate Start Network’s Change Makers

03Nov20

About us

A new era of humanitarian action

Start Network is made up of more than 50 aid agencies across five continents, ranging from large international organisations to national NGOs. Together, our aim is to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action, and localisation.
We're tackling what we believe are the biggest systemic problems that the sector faces - problems including slow and reactive funding, centralised decision-making, and an aversion to change, means that people affected by crises around the world, do not receive the best help fast enough, and needless suffering results.
Read more

Localisation

We believe that a more balanced international aid system, which shifts power to those closest to the front-line, will generate more effective and appropriate responses for people affected by crises.

Read more

New froms of financing

New forms of financing

Our pooled funds enable fast and early action to tackle the kind of crises that are often overlooked by other funding mechanisms. Our risk financing pilots are introducing new ways of working that can save even more lives.

Read more

Collective innovation

New ways of working are needed to tackle the challenges we face. By innovating collectively we can share expertise, insights and perspectives to shape a more effective humanitarian system.

Read more

An international network

Today the Start Network extends to over 40 members and their 7000 partner organisations, employing more than a quarter of a million people across 200 countries and territories.
Read more

Latest news

Blog Post

Local and national organisations' call to action for the G7

This year, the UK has the presidency of the G7, and many decisions that have an impact across the world will be made by the seven economic and political powers in June 2021. We believe it is paramount for civil society to be part of these decisions and to freely express their perspectives, ideas, and concerns. We are very proud that our local and national members took part in the Civil Society 7 Summit hosted by the UK government and Bond. Our local and national members engaged in conversations and roundtables, discussing and making recommendations on seven priorities.  You can find the civil society's recommendations to the G7 here  

30Apr21

Blog Post

Three benefits of due diligence from the perspective of new members

We wanted to understand the value that Start Network membership has brought to new members, including the value of our due diligence process. Based on interviews conducted between November and December 2020, here are the three main ways that due diligence has benefitted our new members from their perspectives.

26Apr21

Blog Post

EARTH DAY 2021: Adapting to climate change by building community resilience

As part of the evaluation of ARC Replica, in-depth interviews were held with households to better understand the timing and impact of the assistance. These interviews suggested that the start of lean season is not homogenous across Senegal. 

21Apr21

Blog Post

To address the humanitarian sector's biggest challenges, we need to get comfortable with uncertainty

There is no shortage of problems in our modern world. COVID-19, climate change, migration, and increasing economic inequality are just some complex social challenges that we are facing. These challenges surpass our existing solutions toolkit, requiring us to stretch our creative muscles and innovate in order to keep up.

21Apr21

Latest resources

Resource

A path forward for accountability

The decisions and actions of humanitarian actors have a profound effect on people affected by crisis. But how are they able to hold humanitarian agencies to account for their actions? Affected people need an effective voice in the decision-making process in order to ensure accountable, contextualised and need-based responses. In this learning paper, we explore the opportunities and challenges of a Mechanism for Accountability to Affected Populations that was trialled by Start Fund Bangladesh in 2020.

27Apr21

Resource

Projet Pilote De Localisation Start Fund

Start Network a développé un cadre de diligence raisonnable à plusieurs niveaux pour permettre au réseau d'accueillir davantage d'organisations locales en tant que membres, tout en respectant la conformité des donateurs et en assurant la confiance au sein du réseau. En mars 2020, un projet pilote a été mis en place pour évaluer l'impact du financement direct des membres qui avaient atteint un niveau particulier dans le cadre de diligence raisonnable. Dans le cadre de ce projet pilote, ces membres ont eu accès à un montant maximal de 30 000 £ via le Start Fund.

27Apr21

Resource

Programa Piloto de Localizacion de Start Fund

Start Network ha desarrollado un marco de diligencia debida por niveles para permitir que la red incorpore más organizaciones locales como miembros, sin dejar de cumplir con los donantes y garantizando la confianza en toda la red. En marzo de 2020, se estableció un proyecto piloto para evaluar el impacto de la financiación directa de los miembros que habían cumplido con un nivel particular en el marco de diligencia debida escalonada. A través del piloto, estos miembros tuvieron acceso a un máximo de 30.000 libras esterlinas a través del Start Fund.

27Apr21

Resource

Start Fund Localisation Pilot

Start Network has developed a tiered due diligence framework to enable the network to bring in more local organisations as members, while still meeting donor compliance and ensuring trust across the network. In March 2020, a pilot was established to evaluate the impact of directly funding members that had met a particular tier in the tiered due diligence framework. Through the pilot these members were given access to up to £30,000 via the Start Fund.

27Apr21

Pages

The Network

Start Network members