Caritas India has announced its membership of the transformational humanitarian organisation Start Network, demonstrating its commitment to collaborate with others to catalyse a new humanitarian system that can save more lives.

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.

Caritas India is the national official organization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India for social development with a secular approach.  Traversing over five decades of its service, Caritas India has become an organization promoting inclusive and equitable humanitarian aid and development. Caritas India (CI) works with more than 350 working partners in India and has a strong presence in the affected area through its humanitarian and development programmes.

Caritas India’s strategic intent is to promote and capacitate local actors/leaders and locally grown organisations and to extend humanitarian aid based on the principle of subsidiary. Propelled by the commitment to preserve the dignity and sacredness of human personality, Caritas India serves the underprivileged sections of the society, hailing from socially excluded communities, the Scheduled Caste, and Scheduled Tribes by exercising preferential actions for the most marginalised.

Caritas India will be represented by Fr. Paul Moonjely on the Start Network Assembly, which determines how the Start Network operates, shapes and informs initiatives and makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees.

Caritas India 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

Executive Director of Caritas India, Fr. Paul Moonjely, said, “Caritas India is honoured to be associated with START Network to work together in addressing the humanitarian crisis and provide much-needed assistance to the vulnerable population in need”

Christina Bennett, CEO of the Start Network said, “I am delighted to welcome Caritas India 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.”