This external evaluation was commissioned to ‘assess the preparedness of Start Fund to scale-up its operations and suggest future growth rate scenarios’. The overarching purpose of the evaluation is stated as two-fold: Assess the preparedness of the Start Fund to scale up its operation; Inform the Start Fund of the appropriate scale-up considerations (including the size and growth rate scenarios).
The ‘Evaluation of the Start Fund’s Preparedness to Scale-up’, is Humanitarian Outcomes’ third learning project as a Start Fund partner and easily the most challenging one. The evaluation coincided with a period of quite fundamental and fast-moving change for the Start Fund, including a recent shift in the status of the organisation to a newly independent charity.
Andrew Kavala is the Country Director for MANEPO overseeing a staff of 32. He is also doing a PhD in Strategic Management, chairs a Start Fund members coordination group, is a member of the Membership Committee and is the Start Fund Regional Advisor.
The Start Fund’s value lies in its use as a tool by and for its members, with member agency representatives having the ability to define and adjust the Start Fund remit to the realistic needs and flexibilities of humanitarian crises.
On International Women’s Day, we take time to reflect on the achievements of women and girls as well as understanding the strides that must be made for further gender equity around the world. At Start Network, we are beginning a gender review of the Start Fund’s projects and processes to see what more can be done to reach women and girls during humanitarian emergencies.
The drought in Southern Africa has been ongoing since October 2018 and has consistently grown in scale and severity. 45 million people were estimated to be experiencing critical levels of food insecurity at the end of 2019. The ongoing crisis is the cumulative consequences of the climate-related natural disasters (including drought, cyclone, and flooding) that have hit Zambia.
Since 2017 the Start Fund reporting systems have included a section on the leveraging of additional funds. In 2018 the total amount secured in additional funding was reported to be £64 million, more than five times the amount that was awarded by the Start Fund in the first place.
Myanmar's annual rainy season brought devastating floods to villages in Hpa-An and Bago this year. People were stranded in their homes or forced to flee them. Schools were closed. Harvests were wiped out. Livestock killed.
Continual heavy rains in Freetown, Sierra Leone, triggered flooding in the country's capital damaging homes, washing away livestock and destroying livelihoods. The Start Fund was alerted to the crisis in early August and awarded rapid responding funding to Action Aid, Care International, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam to help meet the needs of those affected.
