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Over the past year, the Start Network has tested the flexibility of the Start Fund mechanism applied to one specific and highly volatile crisis context. The Mediterranean migration crisis has provided a testing platform for NGOs to use the Start Network’s peer review decision-making process to respond in one complex crisis. It aims to respond to rapidly changing contexts, spikes and emerging unforeseen needs within wider and highly politicised humanitarian 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. 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. 

Shifting the Power (StP) is a three-year project that aims to strengthen the capacity and influence of local and national humanitarian actors, and to contribute to the development of a more balanced humanitarian system. StP is part of the three-year Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) and is being implemented by a consortium of six INGOs: ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Concern, Oxfam and Tearfund. The consortium is working alongside 55 local and national NGO (L/NNGO) partners in Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Pakistan. The project is comprised of five ‘outputs’, relating to capacity strengthening, supporting representation and voice of local partners, consortium member INGOs ‘walking the talk’, collaboration with other DEPP projects, and learning and evidence sharing. This learning review took place between July and September 2017 (towards the end of the project). It examines how the project has influenced local and national partner’s response to emergencies, and which capacity strengthening activities have been most successful. The data on which the review is based was collected from StP staff, L/NNGO partners, and INGO consortium members through a variety of means including: qualitative surveys, field visits, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Skype calls and extensive document reviews. The programme has seen some immediate results and benefits. There are numerous examples from all StP countries of L/NNGO progress in being prepared for and able to respond to emergencies. Positively, reports of the progress achieved as a result of being part of StP was not limited to one or two L/NNGOs, nor were they limited to one area of progress per L/NNGO.  

Shifting the Power (StP) is a three-year project that aims to strengthen the capacity and influence of local and national humanitarian actors, and to contribute to the development of a more balanced humanitarian system. StP is part of the three-year Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) and is being implemented by a consortium of six INGOs: ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Concern, Oxfam and Tearfund. The consortium is working alongside 55 local and national NGO (L/NNGO) partners in Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Pakistan. The project is comprised of five ‘outputs’, relating to capacity strengthening, supporting representation and voice of local partners, consortium member INGOs ‘walking the talk’, collaboration with other DEPP projects, and learning and evidence sharing.

In January, the Start Fund was alerted to its 214th crisis in Burundi where there has been an influx of refugees arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Increased violence between armed groups and government forces in the DRC has forced people to flee to neighboring countries, including Burundi.

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.