Disasters disproportionally affect poorer communities. In fact, 97% of the people killed by disasters live in developing countriesWorld Disasters Report, IFRC

The 24 members of the Start Network have a wealth of experience and capacity to work in over 200 countries and territories. The Start Fund will be utilised in a flexible manner to respond to emergencies in developing countries, based on the particular scale, impact and needs of the population in the event of a disaster. Most often this will be in the least developed countries or countries that are still developing as these are the places least able to cope with large scale emergencies.

Please note that these statistics are approximations based on the most recent annual reports available from our member agencies.