Start Network is delighted to release details of new features added to its innovative Start Fund portal.
The new mapping tool aims to improve decision-making and accountability, by enabling members, donors, local partners and the public to see at-a-glance the reach of the Start Fund and all the countries it works in.
The interactive map provides easy access to information on Start Fund alerts and responses and their impact. It can be filtered by country, agency, crisis type, or live responses. Users can also customise the map to show impact, including funding awarded and people reached, by filters they choose.
The new feature has been added to the Start Fund portal which allows Start Network members, donors and the public to monitor humanitarian alerts as they happen, follow how money is spent and see how many people have been helped.
Christos Papaioannou, Head of Start Funds said;
“The Start Network is committed to transparency because we believe it is fundamental in improving decision making and accountability. And we are delighted to go further than simply publishing information with this fantastic mapping tool.
“This new tool helps members and others access that information quickly and customise it to find the information most useful to them. So, if you want to know how many responses for flooding there has been in one country, how much was awarded, and how many people were helped, you can now do that easily and quickly on our new map!”
New features of the portal include:
- Real-time: see responses which are happening now in countries all over the world
- Customisable: filter the map by different areas to find what you are looking for quickly
- Historic: see past responses and alerts which were not activated to understand why and learn from them
The mapping tool was created by Agile Collective and Outlandish, working in collaboration as part of CoTech, a collective of digital cooperatives.
The Start Fund, a pooled rapid-response fund, is run collectively by Start Network’s 42 aid agency members around the world. In its fourth year alone the Start Fund spent over £8.8 million responding to the unmet needs of 2,050,546 people across 44 crises in 31 countries.
The Start Fund is supported by the governments of the UK (UK aid through the Department for International Development), Ireland (Irish Aid) and the Netherlands (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Belgium (the Belgian Development Cooperation) and by the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department.