People in Need announces membership of Start Network

Start Network’s mission is to drive and catalyse change in the global aid system, tackling what it sees as the biggest systemic problems that the sector faces. Problems including slow and reactive funding, centralised decision-making, and an aversion to change, which mean that people affected by crises around the world, do not receive the best help fast enough when crises strike. The network’s aim is to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action and localisation.

The People in Need (PIN) was established in 1992 and gradually became a matured humanitarian organization striving to provide aid in the crisis regions globally. Currently PIN is one of the biggest non-profit organizations in Central Europe, often working with the affected people in the complex conflict settings and hard-to-reach areas. PIN shares all the key Start Network values, particularly being people-centred, willing to take measured risks and firmly believing in collaboration with other aid actors.

People in Need will be represented by Marek Štys, PIN’s Head of Emergency Programmes, on the Start Network Assembly, which determines how the Start Network operates, shapes and informs initiatives and makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees.

People in Need will be working with its fellow Start Network members on key areas such as the Start Fund, the first multi-donor pooled fund for rapid response, managed exclusively by NGOs. Together, Start Network members catalyse change in the global aid system in three ways:

• New forms of financing - Shifting humanitarian financing from a reactive to a proactive model
• Localisation - Creating a more balanced system that shifts power and decision-making to those closest to the frontline
• Collective innovation - Facilitating collective innovation to solve humanitarian problems locally and globally

Šimon Pánek, Executive Director of People in Need said:

“After the years of aspirations, PIN is excited to join the Start Network community. We work closely with many existing Start Network members and the full membership will allow us to join hands in the early response to various emergencies. As we have seen on many occasions, donors community tends to act with significant delays to the situation which are not hitting the headlines, and this is exactly where we see the Start Fund contributions as indispensable. We are also interested to exchange more on the community-led innovation partnership, which has a potential to further contextualize and localize the ways the aid is delivered.”

Christina Bennett, CEO of the Start Network said:

“I am delighted to welcome People in Need into the Start Network. This growing movement of NGOs recognises the importance of creating a new era of humanitarian action. Start Network seeks to catalyse change within the humanitarian sector and NGOs are at the heart of shaping the change that is needed. Together we’re working drive and catalyse the change that is urgently needed in the global aid system.”

For further information contact:

Start Network: www.startnetwork.org @startnetwork

Start Network is a global network of non-governmental organisations, made up of more than 50 local, national and international aid agencies from five continents. Its mission is to create a new era of humanitarian action that will save even more lives through innovation, fast funding, early action, and localisation. Visit our website to see a full list of members.