Start Fund anticipation

Crisis anticipation enables Start Network members and partners to proactively take action when there is a forecast of an impending crisis. By raising an anticipation alert to the Start Fund and acting early, we can save lives, prevent losses and reduce costs.

Members can use forecasts of events, and predictions about their impact, to raise a Start Fund anticipation alert. This lets communities and organisations prepare in advance for a crisis and begin responding early, so reducing the impact.

The Start Fund is open to all types of crisis for anticipation alerts. Anticipation alerts have been raised for flooding, heatwaves, cold waves, conflict and displacement, disease outbreaks, drought, volcanic activity and tropical cyclones.

How it works

Anticipatory alerts follow the same process as a response alert, following the Alert Cycle of decision making, action, learning and reporting.

The difference is that the alerts are based on emerging risks (and ways to mitigate their impact) rather than a crisis that is already happening.

This means that the information gathering and risk analysis ahead of raising an alert, and the actions taken when implementing an anticipatory alert project, are different from traditional response alerts. 

Support for members

Start Network’s Anticipatory Action Service Offer support to Start Network members with guidance, resources, capacity strengthening support and grants to help them make best use of timely, reliable risk information. 

The Start Network team provides technical guidance support, including feedback on anticipation alert notes. Contact anticipation@startprogrammes.org for more information.

Start Network resources include pre-alert guidance notes, regular risk bulletins, learning and case studies.

Regular trainings and refreshers on Crisis Anticipation and the Start Fund are available. Crisis Anticipation and Action is a self-guided online course to build understanding of crisis anticipation and writing a quality anticipation alert. 

Anticipating  a  crisis  often  requires  information,  forecast  and  data  analysis  tools.  Start Network offers  grants for  Start  Network  members (and their technical partners) to develop data tools to support their anticipatory work. 

Download Anticipatory Tool Grant information note

Download Analysis for Action Grant information note