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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

Start Network hubs launch call-to-action to accelerate a lasting step-change towards localisation

08Jun20

Blog Post

5 Key Insights from Tackling COVID-19 in Cameroon

01Jun20

Blog Post

Three key lessons to improve risk-based decision-making

28May20

News Article

Going virtual: 2020 Assembly & 10-year anniversary

13May20

About us

A new era of humanitarian action

Start Network is made up of more than 40 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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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.

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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

Learning from ARC Replica in Senegal

Through ARC Replica, Start Network has sought to introduce this new financing approach to the NGO community, while protecting communities at risk of drought in Senegal.

08Jul20

Blog Post

Preparing for disaster in Senegal

Like many villages in the heart of Senegal’s semi-arid Diourbel region, Yassi Gueye features a covering of sand, towering baobab trees and staggering heat. It has not rained since October, and everything on the desert-like earth has dried up.

06Jul20

Blog Post

Looking back at the DEPP two years on

The DEPP closed two years ago this month. Many articles were published on its achievements and the independent evaluation by Harvard Humanitarian Initiative drew attention to these as well as some of the challenges including its sustainability. As part of our 10-year celebrations, the Evidence and Learning team of the Start Network have been finding out “what happened next” following the close of the DEPP by speaking to some of member organisations and other stakeholders who were involved in the programme.

30Jun20

Blog Post

How the National Humanitarian Network in Pakistan continues the work of Start Network in strengthening local capacity

Here we talk with Sana Zulfiqar who told us about the continuation of the work of the DEPP and how it has led to new initiatives in Pakistan and the wider region. Sana has been able to push forward many of the Start Networks initiatives in localisation and “shifting the power”.

29Jun20

Latest resources

Resource

Start Fund COVID-19 Update – 2nd edition

This document shares updates from Start Fund COVID-19 Projects being implemented by members from all across the Start Network. This second edition includes short case studies from COVID-19 response projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Burkina Faso, Thailand and South Sudan.

02Jul20

Resource

Start Fund COVID-19 Update - 1st Edition

This document shares updates from Start Fund COVID-19 projects. This first edition includes short case studies from COVID-19 response projects in Timor Leste, Haiti, Lebanon, Peru, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

29Jun20

Resource

Start Fund handbook

This handbook details the procedures which govern the use and allocation of the Start Fund

24Jun20

Resource

June 2020 Risk Brief

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.

10Jun20

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The Network

Start Network members