Reached those who have been forgotten
Just because a humanitarian crisis is not receiving global attention does not mean it’s not happening. And for those affected, no less significant.
Start Network’s family of funds all evolved to answer an unfulfilled need in the sector. The Start Fund and Start Fund Bangladesh, for example, aimed to target under-the-radar small-to-medium crises.
The European Refugee Response (ERR) and the Migrations Emergency Response Fund (MERF) were conceived in reaction to migrants falling through the gap because humanitarian aid was not going to the hosting countries.
The Ebola Preparedness Programme and, more recently, the COVID-19 fund were established to deal with disease outbreaks acting before the majority of donors were able to release funding in country.
Start Network consistently looks to fill the gaps in humanitarian aid, reaching those forgotten by larger funders.
WHAT WE KNOW
Start Fund COVID-19: Early, fast, easy, effective
Start Fund COVID-19 opened for alerts on Thursday, 2 April at 09:00 BST, and by Monday, 6 April at 08:00 BST, it had received a total of 85 alerts from 69 ODA countries across five continents.
Alerts were raised in 29 countries across Africa, 21 countries in Asia, 11 countries in South America, 5 countries in Europe and three countries in North America. Five of these countries — Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, Laos, and Venezuela — had never before had an alert raised through Start Network funding mechanisms.
Read about how agencies used Start Network’s funding mechanisms to address COVID-19
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT START NETWORK
Filled a gap in need
The Start Fund was the first response during the COVID-19 crisis for remote communities in Laos and filled a real gap in need. — Sengpor Lao (CARE, Laos)
We had mobilised resources for a medical response for those very badly hurt by the violence, and Start Network came in and filled the gap for the huge number of people who had either minor injuries or who were really severely traumatised by their experiences. — Lynn Walker (Tree of Life, Zimbabwe)
We saved a lot of lives by being there so quickly — the Start Fund fills the gap before other donors step in. — Rabia Sabri (Community World Service Asia, Pakistan)
Focused attention on small and medium sized crises
The Start Fund fills a gap that has not been addressed by the DEC platform we use for major crises. So it is a unique approach to look after the small and medium crises that no one else is providing funding or alerts or information on. — Naser Haghamed (Islamic Relief Worldwide, UK)
Migration Emergency Response Fund (MERF) as a go-to for underfunded contexts
The MERF is a fund you can go to when you’re in the situation where a context is underfunded because it’s on no one’s agenda. — Lodovica Tranchini (Danish Refugee Council, Tunisia)
Anticipatory humanitarian finance for NGOs
It provides anticipatory humanitarian finance to a wide range of smaller and larger NGO partners who would not have access to systematic finance of this kind otherwise. — Clemens Gros (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Germany)
The critical amount before more sustained funding can be secured
This amount is far less than what is required but it is the critical amount needed before the sustained funding from traditional donors arrives, which is assumed to be delayed for some time. — Kazi Amdadul Hoque (Friendship, Bangladesh)
Footnotes
*From a sample of 58 members and 27 non-members interviewed in 2020
