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Refugees and migrants in Libya are among the most vulnerable groups in the context of the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Due to the elevated level of insecurity and to the criminalisation of undocumented migrants, many are held in detention centres, with a number of studies pointing to their inadequate living conditions. On the other hand, very limited information is available on the protection needs and coping strategies of the wider population of refugees and migrants living outside detention facilities in Libya. In response to this gap, REACH, in partnership with the Start Network and NGO International Medical Corps conducted an assessment in three locations in Libya: Tripoli, Misrata and Sebha to shed light on refugees and migrants’ access to economic resources, housing and healthcare. The assessment was funded by the Migration Emergency Response Fund – managed by the Start Network – through its mechanism for collective information collection and analysis grants. REACH facilitates the development of information tools and products that enhance the capacity of aid actors to make evidence-based decisions in emergency, recovery and development contexts. For more information, please visit their website http://www.reach-initiative.org. 

The first in a series of tests looking to bring greater efficiency and transparency into humanitarian funding has taken place with positive results.

After 35 years of working with some of the world’s most marginalised and vulnerable people, Handicap International has chosen a new name that reflects the values the organisation believes in and better expresses the breadth of its work.

‘Innovation’ has become a ‘buzz word’ in the humanitarian sector, with organisations seeking new and improved ways of delivering aid or boosting the preparedness and resilience of at-risk communities.

The CDAC Networks Hannah Murphy highlights the importance of communicating when trying to spark innovation, especially as each lab is mapping its own journey to achieve this.

From May 2015 to December 2017, RedR UK ran Context, an innovative professional development training programme, in the Middle East and East Africa. The programme was part of the Talent Development project, one of the many projects in the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme . Context - an initiative of the Start Network, led globally by Oxfam GB with the support of UK Aid - is a comprehensive, dynamic staff development programme for humanitarian organisations. It aims to raise standards and quality in future humanitarian responses by building core skills as well as leadership and management capacity among humanitarian staff - especially national staff, who are increasingly at the forefront of humanitarian response. The project uses the Core Humanitarian Competencies Framework (CHCF) to develop staff skills across the wide range of competencies needed to work effectively in the humanitarian sector.

Start Network is to welcome Qatar Charity into its membership at a meeting being held today.

In January, the Start Fund was alerted to an outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria, 350 people were reported to have been infected. The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) has been awarded Start Funds to respond to the crisis on the ground and are targeting three areas which have been most affected; Ondo, Edo and Ebonyi.

A spike in armed violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between September and December led to 30,000 people fleeing their homes while at least 10,000 people fled the country into Uganda. The UN OCHA reports that there are already 4.3 million people internally displaced in the country.

In 2015 the Start Network launched a three-year Transforming Surge Capacity (TSC) project financed with UK aid from the UK government as part of the Department for International Development’s (DFID) Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP). The project has seen engagement by eleven UK-based aid agencies with a collective focus on finding ways to ensure effective civil society surge capacity in order to deliver more efficient, collaborative and localised emergency responses.