Shifted resources and decision making
Challenging the status quo usually means ruffling a few established feathers. That’s what happened with the DEPP’s ‘Shifting the Power’ project in 2016, when locally-led humanitarian responses were promoted and empowered.
Big institutions were no longer calling the shots from the back of the room. Instead, front line workers were given the recognition and responsibility they needed, and deserved.
Start Network’s commitment to shifting power remains unwavering. Our aim is to bring resources and decision-making closer to the communities affected by crisis; to promote a ‘learning by doing’ approach.
Our national fund (Start Fund Bangladesh) accessed by local actors, the national decision-making that occurs in the Start Fund allocations, our national FOREWARN groups and our 12 new national members are just some of the ways we continue to implement our promise.
WHAT WE KNOW
In the last year, 98% of Start Fund activations had Project Selection Committees in-country, up from 85% three years ago.
84% of 62 local partners surveyed stated that working with Start Network had impacted on the credibility of their organisation and building their network. (Start Network 2020 Local Partner Survey)
CASE STUDY: Shifting power to the frontlines
The DEPP’s “Shifting the Power” project was implemented by six Start Network members in five countries. It made significant changes in how local organisations are able to access resources and participate in decision making. For example, six organisations in Pakistan were able to access Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) funding; Codeva and RHA in the DRC could access money from the common humanitarian fund; Sikom and Caritas Maralal in Kenya were designated as county level leads for a peace and security cluster, as part of an integrated, government preparedness and response plan.
Read more in the 2016 impact report (p.33).
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT START NETWORK
Increased visibility of local organisations
Our funding and relationship with ActionAid through the Start Fund has made our organisation unique in our environment, and much more visible with the government so that they are now reaching out to us to see how we can help them. — Monday Itoghor (Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre [ENVIRUMEDIC], Nigeria)
Ceded space to local initiatives
Working with the Start Network on the hub development in DRC has shown us that it is possible to have an initiative that is not led by the north. This is the first time each single step of a process has been our decision and our thinking. It is our creation. Start Network does not interfere, rather they are there to help us reflect. — Gang Karume Augustin (Rebuild Hope for Africa, DRC).
Read about Gang’s learning journey with Start Network
Enabled communities to guide funding decisions
The close interaction of local NGOs with local communities creates a platform for their effective participation in decision making processes. Foreseeing the economic crisis proceeding the COVID-19 lockdown, communities from five villages in Jessore and Satkhira reached out to us with an initiative to create a food bank. They contributed collectively to its creation with additional support of Start Fund Bangladesh through Uttaran, and as a result remained food secure during the lockdown. — Jahin Shams Sakkhar (Uttaran, Bangladesh)
Challenged the North-South ‘charity’ narrative
The founding objectives of Start Network very much aligns with our thinking about pooled funding mechanisms versus traditional systems of givers and receivers where there are contractual obligations. The Start Network’s funding objective challenges the dominant narrative of North-South equations, in which the North decides what the South should do. — Manu Gupta (SEEDS, India).
Read about Manu’s learning journey with Start Network
Defied convention when ‘localisation’ was not popular
At a time when localisation was not popular, when the government was opposed to it, when donors did not want to fund it, and most international NGOs that work in partnership were directly implementing here in Ethiopia, Start Network provided us the opportunity to keep the localisation flame alive. — Conor Molloy (CAFOD, SCIAF & Trócaire [CST], Ethiopia)
Transferred project ownership from global to local decision makers
L’impact des projets appuyés dans le cadre du Start Fund est tributaire de l’appropriation du processus de sélection des projets par un comité composé exclusivement des acteurs locaux lesquels sont plus familiers avec le contexte et connaissent bien les besoins des populations locales avec lesquelles ils collaborent étroitement. Cette dynamique facilite la pérennisation des actions menées suite à l’implication directe des ministères de tutelles dans la mise en œuvre, le suivi et l’évaluation contrairement à un processus de sélection de projet qui serait piloté à partir de l’extérieur notamment les pays occidentaux. — Jean Mukenga (International Medical Corps, Cameroon)
