Search

The Protection in Practice project, part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme, aims to build the capacity of national staff to deliver activities which ensure the protection of civilians during times of crisis, while transforming the sector’s approach to protection. The humanitarian community, along with the United Nations as a whole, has taken critical steps in the last decade to emphasise the fundamental importance of protection in responses to humanitarian crises. Today, in view of the number of complex and concurrent emergencies, it has never been so critical for all humanitarians to ensure that their activities have a positive impact on the protection of displaced and affected populations.

The Protection in Practice project, part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme, aims to build the capacity of national staff to deliver activities which ensure the protection of civilians during times of crisis, while transforming the sector’s approach to protection. The humanitarian community, along with the United Nations as a whole, has taken critical steps in the last decade to emphasise the fundamental importance of protection in responses to humanitarian crises. Today, in view of the number of complex and concurrent emergencies, it has never been so critical for all humanitarians to ensure that their activities have a positive impact on the protection of displaced and affected populations.

International frameworks emphasise the importance of women’s leadership as a requirement for effective humanitarian action - both on the frontline and in designing preparedness programmes - but women remain underrepresented in decision-making roles.

On International Women’s Day, Wanjiru Wainaina tells about her journey from wondering what she was going to do with her life, to working and building skills as a humanitarian in Kenya and now studying at Oxford Brookes University.

On International Women’s Day, Start Network's Laura Louise Fairley pays tribute to the unsung warriors of this world, telling the stories of women in the highlands and the lowlands of Vietnam caring for their families in times of crisis.

The Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW) is an annual programme co-chaired by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Up to 50,000 people have been affected by a cyclone in the South Pacific islands of Tonga, damaging and destroying homes, leaving families without shelter and basic resources.

The Migration Emergency Response Fund (MERF), funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), was established in January 2017 in partnership with the 15 member representatives of the Start Network present in the region. The MERF allows member organisations to react to a significant change of needs, or provide assistance to previously unidentified vulnerable groups. Its aim is to address the unpredictable nature of the mixed migration crisis across the Mediterranean that exacerbated an already difficult operating context for aid workers and made it difficult to plan for a response.

The Migration Emergency Response Fund (MERF), funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), was established in January 2017 in partnership with the 15 member representatives of the Start Network present in the region. The MERF allows member organisations to react to a significant change of needs, or provide assistance to previously unidentified vulnerable groups. Its aim is to address the unpredictable nature of the mixed migration crisis across the Mediterranean that exacerbated an already difficult operating context for aid workers and made it difficult to plan for a response.