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The General Assembly of the Start Network Hub in the Democratic Republic of the Congo took place from 09 to 12 November 2021 and was attended by 40 delegates from the provincial governments of North and South Kivu, the central government, international, national and local NGOs, research institutions and universities, as well as members of Start Network’s team.

In October 2021, Complexity University in partnership with Start Network and The Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) launched the first radical, action-focused innovation programme for community-led impact in the aid sector. The Crisis Response and Resilience Lab was a 2-week intensive action-learning programme, the first of its kind, aimed at supporting humanitarian practitioners to experience and learn a new way of working in response to complex humanitarian challenges. The Lab was an experiment in itself—an opportunity to create a place where different people could build new practices, relationships and learning, whilst experiencing a professional and personal journey taking them from business as usual towards a new, better, humanitarian system.

En mayo de 2021, uno de los miembros locales de Start Network, de la República Democrática del Congo (RDC), respondió a la erupción volcánica del Nyiragongo, que provocó el desplazamiento y la evacuación de 450.000 personas .

En mai 2021, l'un des membres locaux de Start Network, de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), a répondu à l'éruption volcanique du Nyiragongo qui a vu 450 000 personnes déplacées et évacuées.

In May 2021, one of Start Network’s local members, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) responded to the Nyiragongo volcanic eruption which saw 450,000 people displaced and evacuated.

With support from the Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN), the Center for Disaster Preparedness will work with top community innovators in the Philippines to strengthen the disaster risk reduction (DRR) innovation system in the country through the Pinnovation Academy.

In 2020, 12 non-governmental organisations from Pakistan, India, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo joined Start Network. To reflect on the value of a locally led network and the challenges of building one we hear from the new members experience and stories from their engagement with Start Network. These are synthesised into three main themes – operational practices, visibility and credibility. The report demonstrates that new members perceive significant value in joining Start Network, from improvements in policies to increased credibility and visibility. Although new members perceive value in Start Network membership, new members have made recommendations for how to further increase that value. Start Network should ensure that new members are continually supported to improve and strengthen their organisational systems, such as SOPs, policies, and practises. Improvements in credibility could be further made by providing a formal recognition of Start Network membership and giving more visibility to new members as well as providing training on digital presence.

The United Nations and the Governments of Germany and the United Kingdom convened a high-level event to advance anticipatory action and galvanise a collective push to act ahead of crises. Start Network CEO Christina Bennett made the following statement at the event.

A High-level Humanitarian Event on Anticipatory Action, convened by OCHA and the Governments of Germany and the UK, took place on 9 September 2021. This brought together leaders from across governments, international financial institutions, the United Nations (UN) and civil society, who delivered powerful statements on their commitments to act to ahead of crises. Here, Sarah Klassen, Ben Webster, Jânio Dambo, and LA Dimailig offer their personal reflections on what this event achieved – and what should happen next.