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In 2019, we commissioned our first evaluation of crisis anticipation at the Start Network. We were keen to reflect on our risk-taking, look at which hazards we needed to invest in to improve our skill, and learn how to better measure the quality of anticipation alert notes submitted to the Start Fund. A key element of this was to look back across anticipation alerts and see where our forecasted emergencies had happened as expected and what kind of differences we had seen. The evaluation looked at fourteen anticipatory projects from thirteen different forecasted crises. It concluded that half of them had not occurred, which prompted a wider review of all the projects where data was available to determine whether their forecasts were correct. To do this, we used information submitted by implementing agencies when their project has finished. We looked at data from 37 projects, which were implemented across 24 different forecasted emergencies. Thirty-six percent of forecasted emergencies took place as predicted or with a more significant impact, meaning 64% either did not occur or occurred with less intensity. While the Start Network saw a few ‘false alarms’ as a characteristic of a healthily risk-taking humanitarian system, the number of near misses seemed high. Looking into the data, we learned three key points which will inform our approach moving forward.

Start Fund Bangladesh developed standing operating procedures (SOP) after taking stock of current happenings and in-depth discussion with donors and humanitarian leaders. The SOP targeted safety measures at multiple levels to ensure the ultimate prevention of transmission at the community level. Some of these included: Tracking physical health of staff and volunteers throughout the project period; In addition, all personnel involved in the project needed access to personal protective gear (masks and sanitizers) Adopting new practices at the organisational level: providing accommodation facilities to staff and volunteers if needed; giving compensatory allowances to those working in direct response; increasing organisational cleanliness as per WHO standards Following strict guidelines during response and: distributing relief items through door-to-door delivery and drawing distant circles.

Mental Health Awareness Week in 2020 has taken on a more pressing and immediate priority in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, given the implications for the mental and physical wellbeing of billions across the globe.

Start Network has decided to move it's annual Assembly meeting and 10-year anniversary celebrations to a virtual format.

The monthly risk briefing reports on new, emerging or deteriorating situations; therefore, ongoing events that are considered to be unchanged are not featured and risks that are beyond the scope and scale of the Start Fund are also not featured. It is collated by the Start Network Anticipation and Risk Financing team using information from academia and research institutes, government departments, ACAPS, global risk indexes, risk information provided by Start Members and their partners, and the media. Key risks are shared and collated each month with FOREWARN input.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to prioritise locally led responses and reverse existing inequities within the humanitarian sector. The Alliance for Empowering Partnership (A4EP) shares 10 recommendations from frontline responders to ensure that we live up to the Grand Bargain.

The Start Network’s 2020 Member Assembly Representative Survey has revealed some key insights into satisfaction levels amongst our membership, reasons why members would encourage other organisations to join the Start Network and feedback on how we can improve our programmes.

While those in urban Laos prepare to manage the extended lockdown of the nation, ethnic minority women in remote communities are facing the protracted reality of issues that predated the pandemic including malnutrition, gender-based violence, and discrimination.

Humanitarian agencies in Senegal are this week distributing aid as part of an early response to food shortage, which has been caused by the late onset of rainfall last year. This early action will help alleviate the suffering of those affected and reduce the need for them to resort to negative coping actions such as taking children out of schools, eating their seeds, and migrating or selling their farming implements.

Following a limited top-up to the Start Fund COVID-19 fund, an additional 12 alerts have been activated. This brings the total number of activated alerts to 17, amounting to over £3.8m in funding.