At the Start Network, we’re proud that the Start Fund is the first of its kind to allow humanitarian Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to ‘anticipate’ crises. We are starting to see the concept becoming normalised. Next month, the Red Cross will officially open a ‘forecast-based financing’ window for the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.
When humanitarian disasters happen, aid needs to be rapidly brought to the centre of the crisis zone and concentrated there until the situation has stabilised. Surge capacity measures how quickly and effectively this surge of temporary aid can be brought to a disaster zone, and how smoothly it can be scaled down again afterwards.
Increased violence by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has caused thousands of people to be displaced within the country since September 2016. Most of the internally displaced in Beni are living with host families without any humanitarian support.
Start Fund visit to Goma, DRC: A long awaited and very welcome event. In February 2018, Melina Koutsis from the Start Fund team visited Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to facilitate the induction of our new Start Fund Regional Advisor for West and Central Africa, Antoine Sanon.
International frameworks emphasise the importance of women’s leadership as a requirement for effective humanitarian action - both on the frontline and in designing preparedness programmes - but women remain underrepresented in decision-making roles.
On International Women’s Day, Wanjiru Wainaina tells about her journey from wondering what she was going to do with her life, to working and building skills as a humanitarian in Kenya and now studying at Oxford Brookes University.
On International Women’s Day, Start Network's Laura Louise Fairley pays tribute to the unsung warriors of this world, telling the stories of women in the highlands and the lowlands of Vietnam caring for their families in times of crisis.
The Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW) is an annual programme co-chaired by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
Up to 50,000 people have been affected by a cyclone in the South Pacific islands of Tonga, damaging and destroying homes, leaving families without shelter and basic resources.
In January, the Start Fund was alerted to its 214th crisis in Burundi where there has been an influx of refugees arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Increased violence between armed groups and government forces in the DRC has forced people to flee to neighboring countries, including Burundi.
