Search

Although drought can be predicted months in advance, humanitarian assistance is often delayed – because it takes time to raise funds after the crisis has happened. When drought hit Senegal in 2020, this wasn’t the case – because of the insurance policy we bought in 2019, which paid out before the worst effects were felt. Our payout, worth $10.6 million, combined with an additional contingency fund release of $375,000 meant we could reach 335,000 people with timely assistance, helping them to prepare before it was too late.

The DEPP Innovation Labs programme was a two and a half year initiative from 2016-2019 that supported the creation of four community-centred innovation labs in disaster-affected countries (Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and the Philippines) to strengthen disaster preparedness and response.

The Start Fund is the first multi-donor pooled humanitarian funding mechanism, managed exclusively by international and national non-governmental organisations (INGOs/NNGOs). As its membership has expanded, the frequency of alerts has risen, tools and systems have improved, governance has been restructured, and evidence and learning pro-cesses have been strengthened. In its sixth year of operation, by August 2020 the Start Fund had awarded over £71m and demand was seen to be at an all-time high. Past independent evaluations of the Start Fund and its performance have concluded that it is a successful and unique funding mechanism that has added significant value to, and has great potential to reform, the humanitarian financing system.

The DEPP Innovation Labs programme was a two and a half year initiative from 2016-2019 that supported the creation of four community-centred innovation labs in disaster-affected countries (Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and the Philippines) to strengthen disaster preparedness and response. The programme was managed by Start Network and the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network. The labs offered skills training, business mentoring, financial support, and the necessary infrastructure to turn local ideas into viable, scalable solutions. All the innovation labs followed a human-centred design process to create local-level solutions that work for and with vulnerable people. Overall, the DEPP Labs supported close to 100 innovations covering a broad range of areas such as early warning communication systems, disaster awareness education tools, protective flood barriers, agricultural tech applications to counter the effects of drought and transport and accommodation solutions for refugees.

The events of the past 18 months have thrown down an important gauntlet for Start Network to deepen our commitment to local humanitarian action and the power shifts that this requires, to demonstrate that acting collectively, early and ahead of a crisis can minimise death and suffering, and to galvanise our diverse, growing global network around a critical examination of our ethics and our mindsets and around accelerating systems change. 

كان عام 2020 عامًا صعبًا للمجتمعات في جميع أنحاء العالم. عزز العام الحاجة إلى حلول محلية عالية السياق للمشكلات الإنسانية ، وزاد من الحاجة إلى المبادرة والمرونة والسرعة عند إدارة الكوارث. في عام 2020 ، عززت Start Network دعمها للمجتمعات ، بينما كانت تدافع عن التغيير وتؤيده عبر النظام الإنساني العالمي. توضح المراجعة السنوية لعام 2020 ما حققتهكان عام 

  2020 was a difficult year for communities around the world. The year reinforced the need for local, highly contextual solutions to humanitarian problems, and heightened the need for proactivity, flexibility and speed when managing disasters. In 2020 Start Network stepped up its support for communities, while demonstrating and advocating for change across the global humanitarian system. Our 2020 Annual Review demonstrates what the network achieved in 2020, it covers three areas; locally led action, collective innovation and new forms of financing.

2020 a été une année difficile pour les communautés du monde entier. Elle a renforcé le besoin de solutions locales et très contextuelles aux problèmes humanitaires et le besoin de proactivité, de flexibilité et de rapidité dans la gestion des catastrophes. En 2020, Start Network a intensifié son soutien aux communautés, tout en démontrant et en plaidant pour le changement à travers le système humanitaire mondial. Notre rapport annuel 2020 démontre ce que nous avons réalisé en 2020, elle couvre trois domaines; l'action menée localement, l'innovation collective et les nouvelles formes de financement.

2020 fue un año difícil para las comunidades de todo el mundo. El año reforzó la necesidad de soluciones locales y altamente contextualizadas para los problemas humanitarios, y acentuó la necesidad de proactividad, flexibilidad y rapidez en la gestión de los desastres.

2020 was a difficult year for communities around the world. The year reinforced the need for local, highly contextual solutions to humanitarian problems, and heightened the need for proactivity, flexibility and speed when managing disasters. In 2020 Start Network stepped up its support for communities, while demonstrating and advocating for change across the global humanitarian system. Our 2020 Annual Review demonstrates what the network achieved in 2020, it covers three areas; locally led action, collective innovation and new forms of financing.