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In 2021 Start Network reached 5 million people with emergency humanitarian assistance. The Start Network Annual Report and Accounts 2021, tells the story of how we made progress using five keys to systems change: Purpose - We refreshed our strategy and reoriented our vision, mission, and theory of change around locally led humanitarian action to enable communities affected by and at risk of crises to feel and demonstrate their agency and power. Power - We created spaces and systems for decision-making, ways of working, and resource allocation to be increasingly determined by local and national organisations. Practice - We embedded a locally led focus into our activities, re-centring our programmes, actions, and learning around community leadership, solutions, and accountability. Resources - We made resources more easily accessible and available to local organisations. Funds flowed to and were managed by local and national organisations to respond to and increasingly act ahead of predictable crises Relationships - We enabled stronger relationships to grow between different players by ensuring collaborations and partnerships were equitable and sustainable, in support of community priorities.   DOWNLOAD THE REPORT   In Arabic In Bengali In French In Spanish      

When Typhoon Nock-Ten made landfall on December 25, Joana Villaflor had just arrived home for Christmas on Catanduanes island. Joana, a member of On Call Surge Philippines, a shared roster set up by the Start Network’s Transforming Surge Capacity project, gives an account of the days following the typhoon.

In late January, Start Network member ALIMA alerted the Start Fund to a Lassa Fever outbreak in Nigeria. The Start Fund's MEAL advisor, Ian Sim-Cox Heath, and Start Fund programme officer Anne Noirhomme, give their first hand account of the Start Fund awarded response on the ground.

The Start Network's Migration Emergency Response Fund's (MERF) Emergency Coordinator, Melina Larson, and Start Fund MEAL office, Micheala Larson, have been in Morocco visiting Humanity & Inclusion's project funded by the MERF. In this blog post Melina gives her first-hand account of their project on the ground.

We are looking to recruit a team of consultants to conduct the final evaluation of the Shifting the Power project. This evaluation is to fulfil the project’s accountability to its primary stakeholders – the local partner organisations –  and to its secondary stakeholders – the project consortia and donors (INGOs, Start network and DFID). The evaluation will cover all five Shifting the Power countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ethiopia, DRC, and Kenya) and the coordination work done at global/UK level.

Start Fund's rapid response to the displacement of migrants in Guatemala and Mexico meant Cadena, Oxfam and World Vision received funding quickly to respond to the people's immediate needs including shelter, essential items and hygiene kits. Start Network's Senior MEAL Advisor, David Burt gives us his first-hand account of the crisis response on the ground.

As the Start Network continues to focus on Disaster Risk Financing programming, this research was commissioned to analyse the issues and additional considerations around gender in DRF programming. Making programming most effective includes ensuring that the DRF systems that we build or support are fully gender-sensitive and adequately account for gender differences at different points of the project cycle. This includes how gender issues might differ across different hazard types (eg. fast vs. slow onset) and geographic contexts, and the approaches we can take to account for them. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to answer the following two questions: 1) Which points in DRF System development and implementation are likely to have the most significant gendered aspects? How might this vary between hazards and contexts? 2) How can our disaster risk financing ‘building blocks’ (i.e the guidance we give to Start Network members for building quality DRF systems) be enhanced to fully mainstream gender? This research was led by Practical Action Consulting and the case studies were carried out by CARE Bangladesh and CARE Philippines, with close support from the Start Network.

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.