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A new era of humanitarian action

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Start Fund: Tropical storm response, Somalia, 2018

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News Article

G7 not doing enough for communities affected by disasters

10Jun21

News Article

Start Network members launch pilot to promote local, rapid and early action in Nepal

16Jun21

News Article

UK Aid provides £12m to support the Start Fund

11May21

News Article

G7 commits to scale-up support for anticipatory action and the Start Fund

05May21

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.
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Locally-led action

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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Latest news

Blog Post

Opportunities to change the way we evaluate humanitarian responses

In 2020, Start Network undertook a number of consultations with communities that were supported by its funding. This included a large household survey in Senegal evaluating the quality and impact of assistance in anticipation of drought through ARC Replica, as well as the perceptions of people assited in Pakistan, India and DRC as part of our due diligence pilot. Central to the planning of these evaluations was an intention to be as inclusive as possible by amplifying marginalised voices, and to ensure that the people interviewed were able to express themselves in their local language by hiring local consultants to conduct interviews.

23Jun21

Blog Post

CASE STUDY: How Start Fund Bangladesh supported a local NGO's growth and sustainability

In 2020, Start Fund Bangladesh (SFB) conducted an Organisational System Strengthening Initiative (OSSI) facilitated by an external consultant. This initiative took a participatory approach in assisting six of SFB’s local members to identify gaps in the operating functions of their respective organisations. Bolipara Nari Kalyan Somity (BNKS) was one of these organisations. It is a women-led organisation that has been operating in Chittagong Hill Tracks of southeastern Bangladesh since 1991.  

21Jun21

News Article

Start Network members launch pilot to promote local, rapid and early action in Nepal

Following the success of last year’s Start Fund COVID-19 response in Nepal, Start Network members are piloting a country-based contingency fund to respond rapidly to, and in anticipation of, small to medium scale crises in the country. Funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), this member-led trial, known as Start Fund Nepal, has been designed by local, national and international organisations. Members of the Start Fund Bangladesh team have also been supporting the design based on their experience of managing a country-based pooled fund since 2017.

16Jun21

Blog Post

G7 announcement to support pre-arranged finance necessary to saving more lives but should have gone further

Yesterday's announcement at the G7 summit included a package of support from the UK, Germany and the USA to scale up pre-arranged finance to protect the world’s most vulnerable communities against the impacts of climate change. This is a necessary step if governments are committed to saving more lives.  However, the announcement could have gone further and we are now waiting for concrete targets and a timetable around this support.

14Jun21

Latest resources

Resource

MONTHLY RISK BULLETIN ISSUED: JUNE 2021

The monthly risk briefing reports on new, emerging or deteriorating situations; therefore, ongoing events that are considered to be unchanged are not featured and risks that are beyond the scope and scale of the Start Fund are also not featured. It is collated by the Start Network Anticipation and Risk Financing team using information from academia and research institutes, government departments, ACAPS, global risk indexes, risk information provided by Start Members and their partners, and the media. Key risks are shared and collated each month with FOREWARN input.

16Jun21

Resource

Evaluation du processus de versement de l’ARC Replica

En juillet 2019, Start Network et le gouvernement du Sénégal ont chacun souscrit une police d'assurance contre la sécheresse auprès d'African Risk Capacity Ltd. Lorsque les déclencheurs convenus au préalable ont été atteints en novembre 2019, un versement de 12,5 millions de dollars US a été effectué au gouvernement du Sénégal et 10,6 millions de dollars US supplémentaires ont été versés à Start Network pour une action humanitaire précoce. Six membres de Start Network ont ensuite travaillé aux côtés du gouvernement du Sénégal pour fournir une assistance tout au long de l'année 2020 aux familles sénégalaises avant une grave sécheresse à grande échelle.

26May21

Resource

MONTHLY RISK BULLETIN ISSUED: MAY 2021

The monthly risk briefing reports on new, emerging or deteriorating situations; therefore, ongoing events that are considered to be unchanged are not featured and risks that are beyond the scope and scale of the Start Fund are also not featured. It is collated by the Start Network Anticipation and Risk Financing team using information from academia and research institutes, government departments, ACAPS, global risk indexes, risk information provided by Start Members and their partners, and the media. Key risks are shared and collated each month with FOREWARN input.

12May21

Resource

PROCEDURES OPERATIONNELLES STANDARD : FBF A MADAGASCAR

Ce document détaille le processus de mise à disposition et de déboursement des fonds par les membres du Start Network à Madagascar, en cas de prévision d’une sécheresse à Madagascar.

12May21

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The Network

Start Network members