🔄️ Highlights from 2025!
“If the events of 2025 have taught us anything, it is that the time to jump is now.”
The #humanitarian system is going through significant changes triggered by large-scale funding cuts. Rather than piecemeal reform, Start Network advocates for its complete transformation to a #locally led humanitarian system that is accountable to people affected by, and at risk of, crises.
Here are our three recommendations for reforming the humanitarian system and how we’re putting them in practice:
🔗 Read the full policy brief at the link in bio!
In 2025, the Start Fund responded to more crises and supported more people than ever before.
During the year, a total of 100 responses provided support to at-risk people around the world.
➡️ What drove this growing humanitarian need?
➡️ How did aid cuts impact small to medium and under the radar crises?
➡️ How much did climate and weather-related shocks contribute to rising #humanitarian needs?
Find the answers in the latest #StartFund Impact Report at the link in bio!
“We will keep the work going, one way or another.”
When funding cuts hit, Caritas Bangladesh's landslide early warning work in Teknaf, Bangladesh was suspended. With support from Start Network’s Solidarity Fund, activities were resumed, helping communities continue systems that protect people at risk of landslides.
This emergency funding enabled:
⚠️ Relaunch of the landslide early warning system
🏘️ Reappointment of core staff and reactivation of community volunteer groups
🌧️ Resumption of rainfall monitoring and early warning functions
📢 Awareness sessions, training, and community simulation drills
Communities continued engaging with the early warning system, showing strong ownership even during the disruption. Support from the #SolidarityFund helped restore momentum and provided the resources needed to carry the work forward effectively.
Learn more about their inspiring work at the link in bio!
"Acting early is not just more efficient, it saves lives, protects livelihoods, and preserves dignity of at-risk populations in Somalia and beyond."
What does anticipatory and early action look like in the face of drought? What difference does it make for families, community systems, and especially for women?
Hear directly from Mohamed Omar, Crisis Financing Advisor for Somalia, following his recent field visit to Galkayo district in the Mudug region, where Start Ready is supporting communities to act ahead of drought, at the link in bio!
🌟 Introducing the speakers of our first #StartingPoints discussion, held in partnership with HPN
In "Reform or Repeat?", we bring together experienced local and national leaders to move beyond theory and take stock of what has actually changed since the #HumanitarianReset began.
Grounded in evidence from our recent report, be a part of this honest conversation on how the Reset can deliver real change:
➡️ Register at the link in bio!
🗓 Wednesday, 6 May 2026
⏰ 10:00 - 11:00 AM (BST/GMT+1)
💻 Online | Open to Start Network members and the wider humanitarian sector
Our speakers bring lived experience, critical insight, and hard‑won lessons from locally led #humanitarian action across the world!
🎙️ Meet the speakers for our first #StartingPoints discussion!
Who gets to define whether the #HumanitarianReset is delivering real change? In this live webinar, local and national leaders share honest reflections on localisation commitments one year on: what’s shifting, what’s not, and what must happen next.
🔗 Register now for "Reform or Repeat? Honest Reflections on Localisation Commitments One Year After the Humanitarian Reset" at the link in bio!
⭐ We will be joined by:
➡️ Amrita Paul – Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)
➡️ Hussein Kulmiye – Somali Lifeline Organization- SOLO
➡️ Bridget Osakwe (PhD) – The Feminist Humanitarian Network
➡️ Angelina Nyajima – Hope Restoration SOUTH SUDAN
➡️ Samiullah Hamidee – Organization for Social and Economic Development (OSED)
➡️ Moderated by our CEO, Christina Bennett
🌍 The event is co-presented with the Humanitarian Practice Network and is open to Start Network members and the wider #humanitarian sector:
🗓 Wednesday 6 May
⏰ 10:00–11:00 AM (BST / GMT+1)
🔗 Register at the link in bio!
🌏 This #EarthDay, we explore how humanitarian action can go beyond short-term relief to support community-based resilience rooted in environmental protection.
From community-led innovation to locally led, climate-aware anticipatory action, we unpack what’s working and where the system needs to change.
We also look at what traditional #humanitarian response and INGOs can do differently to improve both environmental and human outcomes.
🌱 Explore how this shift is already taking shape at the link in bio!
#EarthDay2026
Start Network's upcoming webinar, presented in partnership with the Humanitarian Practice Network, asks: Reform or Repeat? The conversation draws on our recent report 'Localisation works' to reflect honestly on localisation commitments one year after the #HumanitarianReset. The session centres local and national organisations as experts, exploring whether recent reforms have delivered real shifts in power, funding, decision‑making, and practice - or fallen short.
➡️ Register now at the link in bio!
⭐ Reform or Repeat? Honest Reflections on Localisation Commitments 1 year after the Humanitarian Reset
🗓 6 May | ⏰ 10 AM GMT+1
🗣️ French and Arabic interpretation will be available.
📄 Read the report on our website in the resource library.
This webinar is part of #StartingPoints - a new learning series by Start Network designed to spark meaningful discussions and create space for honest, evidence‑based conversations about #humanitarian action and systems change. Open to everyone, the interactive webinars bring together diverse representatives and voices from within and outside our membership and network to share insights, experiences, and perspectives.
Keep watching this space for more information!
What happens when communities affected by crises are supported to lead innovation themselves?
The Community-Led Innovation Partnership (CLIP) Anthology shares learning from the global CLIP initiative which supported community innovators in the Philippines, Indonesia, Guatemala and South Sudan.
Since 2020, the partnership has supported 94 community-driven innovations and more than 3,300 community innovators working on solutions to challenges such as disaster risk, livelihoods, inclusion and displacement.
From accessible evacuation transport for people with disabilities to locally designed resilience initiatives, the report highlights how innovation grounded in local knowledge and lived experience can strengthen humanitarian response.
It also shares insights on how to create the conditions for community-led innovation, from funding and mentoring to building networks and learning spaces.
Read the anthology at the link in bio!
April 21 marks the #WorldCreativityAndInnovationDay, officially designated by the UN General Assembly in 2017 to highlight how creativity and innovation contribute to sustainable development and problem‑solving across economic, social, and environmental challenges worldwide.
#WCID
When funding cuts disrupted #humanitarian interventions, support from the #SolidarityFund enabled Shariatpur Development Society - SDS to invest in what lasts: practical, locally led systems that help communities prepare before disaster strikes.
This included:
⚠️ Last-mile early warning systems in climate-vulnerable communities
📄 Locally developed contingency plans across all levels
🫱🏽🫲🏽 Village Disaster Management Committees and volunteers trained to act before crises escalate
SDS focused on strengthening local capacity so communities can anticipate, respond, and lead.
Read more here at the link in bio!
Across nine local humanitarian hubs in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Start Network is working to shift power, resources and decision-making closer to communities.
From influencing national policy on anticipatory action, to building locally resourced pooled funds, hubs are not just delivering #humanitarian support. They are reshaping how the system works.
How are hubs driving system change in practice? Read more in the blog in bio!
In Bangladesh, Jago Nari, a women’s rights organisation, faced operational disruptions and impacts on community trust when funding cuts hit last year.
With support from the Solidarity Fund, they took a strategic path forward to tackle these unexpected challenges. Instead of just filling short-term gaps, they invested in becoming stronger for the long term by:
➡️ Developing a fundraising strategy and strengthening donor engagement
➡️ Building a long-term strategic plan grounded in community priorities
➡️ Documenting nearly three decades of impact to strengthen visibility and credibility
➡️ Bringing together partners to build new relationships and advance advocacy efforts
Together, these steps show a shift towards financial diversification and a resilient future, highlighting how the #SolidarityFund helps local organisations to adapt, and continue supporting communities despite funding cuts.
Read their story of resilience at the link in bio!
@ikea_foundation , @start.network.bangladesh
