National Start Funds are a development of our global Start Fund. They provide the same contingency funding but on a national level, where the power to decide and to act is held as locally as possible.
Like the global Start Fund, each national Start Fund is a rapid emergency fund that activates within 72 hours of a crisis. They are also owned by NGOs, in this case organisations that are based in a specific country. These member organisations are responsible for governance and decision making that is led by their local knowledge.
This approach means that instead of projects being imposed on communities by donors, local organisations have the power to make their own decisions.
We have also seen that by funding local partners we can directly reduce response time as well as operational and management costs.
