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Start Fund COVID-19, a funding mechanism created by Start Network, aims to provide anticipatory and rapid funding for local-level responses to the COVID-19 pandemic before larger funding instruments are available. Anticipation and early action to localised COVID-19 emergencies is critical to minimise the occurrence and impact of outbreaks in communities who are living in vulnerable contexts. By taking pre-emptive action and reducing the response time for emerging needs, the spread of the pandemic can be slowed, and its impact reduced – particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable places.

In 2016 the Start Network launched Crisis Anticipation within the Start Fund. This short brief documents the 10 key lessons learned and recommendation from the first 3 years of Crisis Anticipation at the Start Network.

Start Network’s first virtual Assembly meeting took take place from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October 2020, alongside our 10-year anniversary celebrations. Watch the recordings of the sessions related to the Start Fund and access all the learning materials below.

Start Network’s first virtual Assembly meeting took take place from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October 2020, alongside our 10-year anniversary celebrations. At the Assembly, we updated members on the development progress of Start Financing Facility.

This document shares updates from Start Fund COVID-19 Projects being implemented by members from all across the Start Network. This second edition includes short case studies from COVID-19 response projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Burkina Faso, Thailand and South Sudan.

This document shares updates from Start Fund COVID-19 projects. This first edition includes short case studies from COVID-19 response projects in Timor Leste, Haiti, Lebanon, Peru, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

At Start Network we always aim to learn from experience. So, we have endeavoured to analyse the data and information from past Start Fund responses in order to present a set of lessons for COVID-19 projects.

The Start Fund has an established practice of providing management response to its external, independent evaluations. Developed through a participatory process, the management response helps to ensure that the evaluations are used, contributing to the Start Funds’ effectiveness, learning, and accountability.   Start Fund constituted an Evaluation Management Response Drafting Committee, comprising of: Three representatives from the Start Fund Strategic Committee: John Birchenough from Catholic international development charity, CAFOD; Jonathan Brooker from Solidarites International UK; and Saba Mahmood from Islamic Relief Worldwide and Start Funds, Head of Funds, Lucile Brethes Start Fund Manager, Lucretia Puentes Start Funds MEAL Manager, Chaitali Chattopadhyay     The drafting committee members carried out a wide-range consultation with the broader Start Fund committee members, Start Network Leadership Team and the Board members to develop a comprehensive management response to the evaluation. The document can be accessed here.  The progress against the management response will be presented to the Start Fund Strategic Committee on a regular basis to ensure compliance and accountability towards the committed actions.

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).

Mongolia is unique. 30% of the population earn their livelihoods from herding livestock, leading a traditional nomadic life to enable their animals to access pasture throughout the year. Weather conditions can be extremely harsh, with long, stormy winters where temperatures can drop as low as -40C or -50C. Herders, and therefore the wider Mongolia economy, are vulnerable to the impacts of extreme winter weather. Dry summers can mean livestock do not gain the weight needed to survive winter, combined with harsh conditions this can cause mass livestock mortality known as ‘dzud’.