The Start Fund will re-launch in the first quarter of 2014 thanks to donations from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Irish Aid.
The Start Fund is based on the CBHA Emergency Response Fund, which was operational from 2010 to 2012 during the CBHA pilot, and helped more than a million disaster affected people. Since the end of the CBHA pilot, the Start Network has used the learning generated to improve and scale up the design of the fund and campaign for its re-launch.
On Boxing Day 2013, the Secretary of State announced the exciting news that DFID will be contributing £30m to the Start Fund. This follows a donation from Irish Aid, who also funded the transition period for the Start Network after the pilot closed.
When it re-launches, this pooled fund will enable NGOs to respond quickly to emerging crises based on an impartial assessment of humanitarian need. The Fund’s niche will be for small to medium scale and slow-onset crises, which often fail to attract sufficient media attention required to trigger existing humanitarian funding mechanisms.
The Start Network’s membership reaches to over 6,700 partner organisations operational in over 200 countries and territories, who will be able to apply for response funding from the Start Fund when a crisis takes place. Resources will be allocated using peer review to the agencies best placed to respond.
For more information about the Start Fund please click here, or contact the Start team.