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Using local membership strength of a pooled funding mechanism to extend humanitarian support during a pandemic.

COVID-19 has caused massive disruption to large-scale national and international mobilisation. Reduced international travel and the lockdown of stations, ports, borders, transportation and supply lines has disrupted the operations of many INGOs, making it virtually impossible to deploy surge capacities. As a result, many local organisations have been forced to step up and carry out locally coordinated responses to this pandemic.

Shonnasgacha is a small village of Keshobpur Upazila of Jashore district where 210 families live in a 1.5 sq. km area. While the country was waking up to the COVID-19 threat in the early stages of the lockdown, the locals of Shonnasgacha village took measures to protect themselves.

On 28th March 2020, Start Fund Bangladesh, the national fund for the Start Network, activated its first alert in response to predictions made by the national Forecast-based Warning, Analysis and Response Network (FOREWARN). 

​One of the ways that Start Fund Bangladesh is shifting more power to local organisations is by ensuring they have more access to funding for operations costs, otherwise known as the Indirect Cost Recovery (ICR) method, this enables them to improve and develop.

This handbook is for MERF members, from headquarters to in-country staff. The handbook is a guide to the most up-to-date processes, systems, and governance mechanisms which enable the MERF to operate. It is a live document and will be continuously updated based on experience and feedback.

We share some stories on the unique space that this Start Fund Bangladesh holds in providing essential support to under-the-radar crises.  

“It's a great example of localisation, the local NGOs have access to funds, mutual learning opportunity and ensured collective efforts for national and international organisations”

Start Fund Bangladesh is demonstrating how localisation makes aid more effective and efficient. People in need are receiving help 10 days faster and operational costs have been halved.

In June 2019, Start Fund Bangladesh made its first national disbursement to a local NGO. This signifies a major step forward in the Start Networks localisation commitments, allowing funds to go directly to the organisation best placed to provide assistance, with major cost and time savings.