Agenda

This session will showcase how governments are increasingly mainstreaming anticipatory action into their risk management systems, revealing experiences and challenges from different contexts to inspire the way forward.

Ten years on, this session will discuss how extreme weather forecasts have evolved and performed, as well as their reliability, accuracy, and impact on decision-making for anticipatory action.

Amid tighter funding landscapes, this session aims to explore: i) how budget cuts are already eroding Anticipatory Action (AA)'s capacity (both directly and indirectly) and the outlook for 2026; ii) latest evidence on cost-effectiveness of AA as one of the few areas that clearly delivers value for money when coordinated; and iii) co-produce (through a working session) proposals for system-level commitments on AA to carry into the humanitarian reset.

In the context of the humanitarian reset, locally-led Anticipatory Action (AA) offers a practical pathway to address long-standing challenges while redefining how humanitarian action is conceived and led. While localisation and AA have gained significant traction, questions remain about what locally-led AA means in practice, what it requires from international partners, and what systemic shifts are needed to make it the norm. Despite positive rhetoric, many initiatives labelled as ‘locally-led’ leave power, money, and decision-making in the hands of international actors. This session will challenge participants to explore what genuine, locally-led AA looks like in the new context, the uncomfortable truths that must be faced, and the shifts required to make locally-led systems the backbone of AA. Through a scenario-based format, participants will imagine possible futures for locally-led AA after the reset and discuss the practical steps needed to steer the system toward transformation.

Readiness for Anticipatory Action (AA) remains a key yet often-overlooked element in delivering AA. This session will focus on what needs to be done to make AA work, from both an operational-readiness perspective of AA practitioners across different hazards and a systematic perspective from AA actors that enable their partners to timely implement AA.

This session will reflect on a decade of anticipatory action, highlighting key achievements, challenges, lessons and what lies ahead in the future.

Join us for a fast-paced, story-driven session where practitioners share what happened during this year’s activations: what worked, what did not, and what changed as a result. In a series of ignite talks, speakers will spotlight concrete evidence, surprising findings, and honest lessons learned since the last Dialogue Platform. If you are interested in how anticipatory action is being implemented in practice, what impact it is having, and want insights you can apply in your own programs, this session is for you. Come ready with questions and ideas; there will be a brief space for discussion after each talk.

Anticipatory Action has grown over the past decade from pilot initiatives into a recognised approach to reducing the impacts of predictable hazards. Yet despite this progress, meaningful inclusion across gender, age, disability, and intersecting identities remains inconsistent. Frameworks often reference inclusion, but key questions persist: Are women, girls, older people, persons with disabilities, indigenous communities, and other underrepresented groups genuinely engaged? Are systems shaped by their lived experiences? Evidence from recent activations shows that interventions without intersectional analysis risk reinforcing exclusion or missing those most at risk. This session, co-convened by members of the Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI) in the AA Working Group of the Anticipation Hub, will examine whether AA is truly inclusive and identify practical shifts needed to broaden participation and impact.

Anticipatory Action has gained global traction for its effectiveness in mitigating the impacts of predictable hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods and droughts. Yet crises have multiple drivers and varied impacts - from food insecurity and malnutrition to conflict, displacement, and animal disease or pests. This session brings together organizations and practitioners testing anticipatory approaches across a diverse range of “newer” domains to demonstrate the breadth and applicability of AA. Speakers will share their key insights, innovations, and breakthroughs that enable anticipatory action beyond traditional hazards. Participants will leave with a broadened understanding of the applicability of AA and insights to take forward in their own initiatives.

In this session, we will explore how Anticipatory Action programmes are being developed with the future in mind. Are our approaches fit to address how climate change is affecting hazards, as well as future changes to exposure and vulnerability? This is an interactive session, so while we have excellent speakers ready to speak on the topic, we will encourage participants to join them in the 'fishbowl' to share their own opinions.

An interactive session filled with engaging games that inspire open conversations about Anticipatory Action. This wild card will begin with an introduction to game design, followed by a lively series of games.