Start Network member agencies will be implementing long term responses to the ongoing refugee crisis in Cameroon and the Ebola crisis in West Africa. This is thanks to two grants from the UK Department for International Development which have been earmarked specifically for these two crises.
DFID have allocated £3 million for the refugee crisis in Cameroon. More than two years of violence in the Central African Republic has driven thousands of refugees into neighbouring Cameroon, which has resulted in its own humanitarian crisis as the camps struggle to meet their needs. This crisis is low profile, meaning it has attracted little funding for humanitarian agencies to respond to the increasing needs.
The West Africa Ebola response is to ensure preparedness and prevention in four specified West African countries to start with. The funding totalling £7m will cover projects up to twelve months in duration.
The Start Network has been selected by DFID to deliver these responses via member agencies, using adapted processes that have been developed for the Start Fund. This means that funding will be available to Start Network member agencies, or their implementing partners, although applications will be accepted via a current member only.
Projects will be selected using our local peer review mechanism, to ensure impartiality and contextual appropriateness during the selection process. While these projects will continue for much longer than the usual 45 day window for Start Fund projects, the agility of the Start Network's decision making processes will be retained to ensure funding reaches implementing partners to begin their responses as soon as possible.