Humanitarian funding review: our future response to global humanitarian crises

Annex E Pooled funds comparator

Multiple pooled funds exist, including some led by UNOCHA^[83], IFRC^[84] and START. The review team has not included them all of them in the table below as we believe that a positive change of direction for Scottish Government would be to explore and invest in a pooled fund which is predominantly managed by (non-UN) actors in the Global South. There are challenges associated with this shift – e.g. the ability of Scottish Government to claim contribution of results and potentially less direct communications stories – but these are not significantly different from the current DEC stream 1.^[85]

NEAR Change Fund Scale: 25 priority countries. 62 grants awarded in the range of $150–250K. Established in 2022. Managed over $6M to date. Objective: The Change Fund is a locally led, global humanitarian response mechanism established by NEAR (Network for Empowered Aid Response) with support from the Hilton Foundation. It is an innovative finance solution that aims to localise aid responses and ensure that local organisations can access funds to respond to emergencies quickly, more efficiently and more cost-effectively. The Change Fund grants are designed to provide quick allocation of funding to frontline local NGOs in the Global South who are directly responding to worsening humanitarian conditions in their communities. This mechanism aims to promote local leadership, build resilience, and support sustainable solutions to humanitarian challenges in the communities where they occur. Government of Switzerland are a core funder of the NEAR Change Fund. 3 grant making windows – Emergency Response Window, Displacement Window and Bridge Funding Window. Criteria: Pre-approved membership (over 300 to date, vetted with full due diligence). Decision making: Uses open-source monitoring to identify new crises and quickly open application windows. Funding is disbursed by its Oversight Board, which is composed of elected local organizations from among NEAR’s membership. Recipients: Local NGOs directly responding to humanitarian needs.

GLOBAL START FUND Scale: Maximum amount allocated in one proposal is £300K. Since 2014 – responses in 82 countries, £157M disbursed. Objective: Member led multidonor pooled fund providing rapid financing to fill a critical gap in the humanitarian financing landscape, responding to small-to-medium scale under-funded crises, anticipated crises and spikes in protracted emergencies. Made up of 134 non-governmental organisations across six continents, ranging from large international organisations to local and national NGOs. Secretariat in the UK. 24 of the 70 staff members based in global south. The Start Fund is supported by the governments of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Jersey, and the IKEA Foundation. Some HEF panel members are START network members. Criteria: Pre-approved membership (over 130 to date). Decision making: Funding is disbursed within 72 hours after members raise a crisis alert. Further details on governance and decisions [here]. Recipients: START network members (over 130).

Overview of the Governance arrangements

NEAR Change Fund

The Emergency Response window of the Change Fund functions through a peer led structure designed to share power and democratize the decision-making process. In this model, local organizations that understand the context and nuances of their regions make funding decisions through an established Oversight Body (OB). This approach accelerates the funding process and ensures that the allocations are more accurately aligned with on-the-ground needs. It represents a significant shift away from the top-down aid models, where decisions are often made far from the front lines of crises, and instead, supports a bottom-up approach that values local knowledge and expertise.

The Change Fund, under the leadership of the OB, has clear and transparent processes where a crisis declaration is demand-driven, based on comprehensive criteria designed by the OB to objectively assess the impact of an event (shock) or new acute phase of an existing crisis. The OB considers multiple factors when making a decision: the ranking of the country on the Human Development Index, the government’s capacity to respond, the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and or conflict, the proportion of the country’s population directly impacted or displaced, and whether the international community is responding or is neglecting the crisis. Once a crisis declaration is made, any NEAR member in a country who has met the minimum requirements of prequalifying, may apply.

Members of the OB are nominated and selected by NEAR members. The first OB was nominated in 2022. In 2024, NEAR launched a new round of nominations to fill vacancies for members based in Africa and the Middle East.

START Network^[86]

The START Fund operates under a multi-tiered, member-driven governance model designed to ensure impartiality, accountability, and collective stewardship. The structure emphasizes decision-making by operational NGOs, with donors providing oversight but not direct control over funding allocations.

Key Components of the Governance Model:

Start Network is a company and charity registered in England and Wales.

• Start Network Assembly: The Assembly is the supreme governing body, comprising representatives from all member organizations. The Assembly meets annually to help shape Start Network’s strategic direction. It ensures that all members have an equal vote, reflecting the fundamental equality of INGOs and NGOs within the structure .
• Board of Trustees: The Board is legally responsible for the Start Network and delegates governance of the START Fund to specialized committees. It combines independent experts with member representatives to ensure both accountability and the benefit of specialised governance skills .
• Start Fund Committee: This is a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees, responsible for the strategic management and operational oversight of the START Fund. It includes a 12-member Strategic Committee that advises on principles and processes. The wider Start Fund Committee, made up of member representatives, has delegated authority to allocate funds to crises and authorise funding deployments. Importantly, donors are not part of the Start Fund Committee or project selection committees, ensuring decisions are made independently by operational NGOs .
• Start Network Council: Composed of donors, representatives from the Strategic Committee, the Board, and the Start Fund team, the Council provides direct oversight of risk management and performance. Donors’ voices are heard through this body, which endorses annual policies and ensures risk management aligns with donor interests .

Checks and Balances:

• Equal Voting: All members have equal voting rights in the Assembly, ensuring democratic decision-making
• Donor Oversight: Donors participate in risk management and policy oversight through the Council but do not have direct influence over individual funding decisions .

A range of national pooled funds in the humanitarian sector also exist but are not summarised in this report. In addition to the START national funds - others include:

• The ASAL Humanitarian Network operating in Kenya’s arid and semiarid lands - a network of over 30 locally led organisations.
• Aid Fund for Syria - supports humanitarian action that contributes to rebuilding communities, strengthening governance, and restoring economic prosperity and social cohesion while maintaining humanitarian principles.

Other pooled funds not summarised above include the IFRC National Society Investment Alliance - a pooled funding mechanism, run jointly by the IFRC and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It provides flexible, multi-year funding to support the long-term development of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. NEAR, in partnership with the African Philanthropy Forum and Adeso have been co-creating the Proximate Fund, a pooled donor collaborative made by Africans for Africans. “The Proximate Fund is rethinking philanthropy from the ground up, and it is infused with the principles of justice, equity, trust, and decolonisation”. The Proximate Fund is currently in the design phase, and Adeso is actively fundraising for additional design and planning grants as well as seed capital.