Agenda
This year’s theme is ‘‘People at the centre: scaling up anticipatory action’. The agenda is packed with a fantastic line-up of performers, speakers and panellists, drawn from communities, the private sector, governments, academia and the humanitarian sector. The three days will focus on exploring this issue through a number of lenses: people, practice and evidence primarily. There are several interactive sessions where participants can share their ideas, views and feedback.
You can read the concept note for the event in English here.
Online translation will be available for the plenary sessions from English into Arabic, French and Spanish.
The parallel and workshop sessions for the 11th Global Dialogue Platform are listed below.
More information on parallel sessions
Parallel sessions are informative interactive 60 minute sessions to discuss a topic in which speakers will be presenting different perspectives.
More information on workshops
The new workshop format allows for highly interactive deep-dive sessions in which participants are engaged in hands-on demonstrations, activities and/or breakout group discussions, based on research or practices.
Parallel
Anchoring anticipatory action in the Grand Bargain
Anticipatory action been continuously expanding since its inception in 2015: More and more humanitarian organisations, both UN agencies and NGOs, are implementing anticipatory action and the instrument has been referenced in several policy processes (e.g., the G7, UN resolutions or as part of the Sendai Framework Midterm Review).
Yet, according to different studies, only 1-3% of global humanitarian spending is invested in anticipatory action, despite the predictability of a significant amount of disasters. One reason for this is that, despite most organizations agreeing on the broad parameters of anticipatory action, there is still confusion around what exactly the instrument refers to and how it is related to other measures and sectors.
The Grand Bargain, bringing together a diverse set of actors from the humanitarian community, is the right forum to strengthen the political support for the concept of anticipatory action and its scale up.
The Global Dialogue Platform is an opportunity to prepare the discussions and process under the Grand Bargain process, building on existing practice and reference documents.
German Federal Foreign Office, their anticipatory action partners & network
Have your say: learning for anticipatory action
The Anticipation Hub is developing a series of learning modules to introduce government and hydrometeorological professionals to the concept, principles and practice of anticipatory action. In this session, we will work together to refine the course content and form, to ensure the final product is relevant, accessible, and effectively builds capacity on anticipatory action.By joining this workshop you will help shape the learning provided by the Anticipation Hub. We enthusiastically welcome participants from government and hydrometeorlogical agencies, and all participants with an interest in the development of this course.
Anticipation Hub & partners
Towards Government-led anticipatory action: regional experiences
The international humanitarian sector has incorporated anticipatory action as a key approach to reduce humanitarian needs. Their efforts over the past years have focused on a wide array of interventions from agreeing on triggers to developing plans and securing financial resources.Governments have been part of these efforts. In some cases, their participation has been limited to a specific time-bound project, but there is evidence that they are increasingly incorporating anticipatory action into state-led strategies and plans. In this session we will explore why is it important and to what extent Governments have internalised the anticipatory action approach.
For instance, Colombia is developing a “Plan Sectorial de Preparación, Acción Anticipatoria y Respuesta a probable Fenómeno de El Niño 2023-2024” and this years Regional AA Platform (17, 18 October) will produce a proposal for CEPREDENAC´s endorsement at Ministerial level in early November committing to AA.
CEPREDEAC (Central American intergovernmental body for disaster response) & partners
A road map to institutionalization – anticipatory action milestones towards shared resilience
Bangladesh and the Philippines have a strong Anticipatory Action community. The Governments and their partners have now been working on anticipatory action tools to be better prepared for disasters. For this session, speakers from the Bangladesh and Philippines will shed light on how they have been advancing anticipatory action as an effective disaster management tool.The government of Bangladesh is currently working on developing nation-wide Early Action Protocols (EPAs) for cyclones and floods to coordinate the efforts of anticipatory action stakeholders in the country better. The government of the Philippines is drafting a bill for the declaration of state of imminent disasters to allow local government units to utilize funding for anticipatory action before a disaster hits.
Government representatives from both countries will highlight how the government has been trying to integrate anticipatory action in the state disaster management system and the plans to expand anticipatory action from the policy level to operationalization in the field.
This session invites participants to discuss possibilities and opportunities of governments to advance anticipatory action.
Office of Civil Defence, Philippines & Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Bangladesh & Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Bangladesh
Reaching more people through strengthening systems for anticipatory action
The World Food Program and the Red Cross Red Crescent network will share practical examples and tools that demonstrate the integral linkages of National / Local preparedness, readiness and response capacity strengthening and anticipatory action and crucially will update on progress and lessons learnt.Perhaps unsurprisingly many experiences and lessons have highlighted critical linkages between preparedness, anticipatory action, response and recovery. The session, therefore, will provide an opportunity for practitioners to discuss how and where anticipatory action fits in the disaster risk management continuum and what opportunities there are to strengthen collaborations between different teams working across the continuum. A practical case study will be used to demonstrate how this complementarity works in practice.
The session presents an opportunity to share not only experiences and challenges for capacity strengthening, but also potential solutions.
International Federation of the Red Cross & UN World Food Programme
Finance for anticipatory action
This session will showcase new or newly adapted financing mechanisms for anticipatory action (AA). In the first half of the session, five organizations implementing anticipatory action will each introduce a source of AA finance that they have accessed, identifying challenges and how they overcame those, thereby also pointing out best practices for donors who want to finance AA.The second half will provide space for discussion and interventions from the floor, including from participants who represent financing tools.
Led by UNICEF & UN World Food Programme
Evidence to establish what matters in anticipatory action? Recent findings and developments
Implementation-oriented research on what works and what doesn’t in anticipatory action helps practitioners to design the most impactful interventions. It can also reveal unanticipated effects on what matters, to whom, and under what circumstances. In this session, practitioners will share recent evidence and experience from implementation around the world.Partner consortium led by Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre & Start Network
How can we assess the impact of our anticipatory action programs on people’s lives, livelihoods and food security? Comparing methods used in Nepal, Afghanistan, Madagascar and Nigeria
In this session, organizations will present innovative methods used to gather rigorous evidence on the benefits of implementing anticipatory action (AA) on people’s lives, livelihoods and food security. Building on this, speakers will lead enriching discussions on how to creatively improve collaborations to build common analytical frameworks in order to better evaluate the impacts of AA, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods.The discussions will be based on practical examples of direct implementation of such methods. World Food Program recently conducted an impact evaluation (IE) on the effects of AA on the food security and coping capacities of communities at risk of flooding in Nepal, examining cause-and-effect relationships by comparing beneficiary and control groups. FAO also conducted an IE to evaluate the effects of its AA programme in Afghanistan’s Samangan province ahead of the 2021 drought, when conflict and insecurity were at their peak. Start Network is currently working on an evaluation of the Start Ready process for Cyclone Freddy earlier this year in Madagascar. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) also produced learning outcomes from comparing AA to emergency response in Nigeria.
By comparing these methods used, speakers will learn from each other’s methods and draw critical conclusions for potential collaboration.
Start Network & UN World Food Programme & Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & International Rescue Committee
Anticipating the end game
How do we know that we have accomplished our goals if we haven't set any?In this session, we'll look into the future and think about what our hopes are for Anticipatory Action in 5, 10, or 20 years from now. Do we hope to have built so much resilience that we are no longer in need of Anticipatory Action? Do we hope that all humanitarian aid is anticipatory? This small group discussion will allow you time to think about how you hope to interact with AA in the future and discuss how we move towards the goals we set for ourselves in this session.
University of Cape Town & the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre & USAID & Risk-informed Early Action Partnership
Local actors at the centre: locally led anticipatory action to increase efficiency and scale up impact
If we are to achieve ‘Early Warnings for All’ and early action at the local level, then communities and local actors must be at the centre.This session will suggest that locally led anticipatory should be a process driven and led by communities and local actors to create an enabling environment demonstrating communities and local actors' capacities to implement their own early action; identifying and communicating gaps and weaknesses in early warning systems and planning and coordination mechanisms; and advocating for accessible flexible and pre-agreed financing for autonomous locally led early action to act ahead of the peak impact of foreseen hazardous events, shocks or stresses, to reduce their impact.
A new guide and toolkit will be referenced, highlighting an enabling collaborative process and three complementary approaches for achieving:
1. The community’s role in utilising microgrants or local flexible funds
2. The role of local actors to develop early action proposals to secure funding
3. An enhanced participatory contingency planning process for early action through collaboration between communities, local actors, and mandated, technical and donor agencies
This session, led by local actors, will highlight local achievement when there is collaboration with and investment in local structures. From the perspective of different local stakeholders, barriers and opportunities will be explored leading to recommendations going forward.
Churches Action in Relief and Development, Malawi & Ecumenical Committee for Social Development, Mozambique & SAF-FJKM Madagascar & Initiative for Development and Empowerment Axis, Pakistan & TINADA youth Organisation, Kenya
Roleplaying to resilience: Unleashing the power of anticipatory action through social protection
In this roleplaying session, participants assume distinct roles in an imaginary country affected by very real extreme events, and their challenge is to protect their people by taking appropriate early actions though social protection systems. As participants juggle development priorities and budgetary constraints, how will they develop social protection programs that are anticipatory, scalable and protect whoever is in need, whenever in need?Join us as we explore how social protection provides a unique opportunity for anticipatory action, and the core components that can make this happen.
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Linking social protection systems and anticipatory action approaches – the key to scaling up delivery?
The session will build upon recent literature and on country case studies from the Latin America and Caribbean, Asia and Pacific, and Africa regions, to explore the key challenges and opportunities faced so far when linking social protection and anticipatory action.Moreover, the session will provide insights on how to:
Ensure that anticipatory action is embedded in policy frameworks, there are domestic financing sources available to enable anticipatory action and there are coordination mechanisms in place.
Design social protection schemes in a way that they can channel anticipatory actions, whilst capitalising on anticipatory action approaches, with a focus on leveraging and applying vulnerability assessments, shared eligibility criteria and aligned transfers values, amongst others.
Carry out necessary versus “nice-to-have” preparedness measures required to implement anticipatory action through social protection schemes, with attention placed on outreach mechanisms, information systems, provision of payments, grievance mechanisms, etc.
UN World Food Programme & Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & International Institute for Environment and Development & Food Security Coordination Directorate, Ethiopia &
Cash: Sometimes but not always
Donors are asking “Is cash always the right way to go for anticipatory action interventions?” How do we help them understand what is appropriate (and not) in different situations based on the evidence that we’ve all gathered up till now? This session would facilitate a discussion around what tools are currently available to help with assessing anticipatory action modality “appropriateness.”Tufts University & Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action
Acting together: How diverse actors can work collaboratively for anticipatory action
This session will focus on how different stakeholders and actors can be brought together to enhance collaboration on anticipatory action (AA) in differing contexts. It will start with a brief presentation of WFP’s work in Somalia and protracted crises to highlight how a partner is working in this context. Then it will continue to focus on the country contexts of Somalia and Pakistan to discuss the AA and disaster management strategies that exist in both countries. This includes the current government plans, how they work with networks and NGOs (such as Start Network and its national Hubs) and how civil society is involved in AA and disaster management in these countries; their strategy to better understand risks, and advantages of pre-positioned financing.It aims to provide a forward-looking perspective on collaboration between governments and NGOs and the future structures in the contexts of Pakistan and Somalia to work on AA and disaster risk management overall.
By bringing together government representatives focusing on disaster management, a local NGO, and an NGO consortium in a dynamic and engaging conversation, this session will explore the roles and expertise of different actors for AA and the ability of anticipatory approaches to respond in diverse contexts.
UN World Food Programme & Disaster Management Agency of Somalia (SoDMa) & NEXUS Somalia & the National Disaster Management Agency Pakistan & IDEA Pakistan
How can anticipatory actions be implemented in protracted crises to curb food insecurity trends?
This session is in conversation with humanitarian, peace and development actors.People in protracted crises are arguably those whose lives, food security, and livelihoods are most in need of protection in the critical window between an early warning and a shock. This session focuses on how they should be protected by mainstreaming the Anticipatory Action (AA) approach within the humanitarian–development–peace nexus. It builds on the relevant collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) with partners and, in particular, the Anticipating Food Crises workshop in 2022, convened by FAO, WFP and the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), the conclusions of which were recently published.
In that workshop, organisations concluded that AA has a role in protracted crises, to mitigate the impact of new hazards and shocks, and to prevent food insecurity from deteriorating in vulnerable communities. They also agreed that this requires further coordination and integration of AA within the overall humanitarian architecture, as well as greater involvement of development actors in discussions on AA are needed. In this session, several stakeholders will discuss concrete steps to improve collaboration and coordination among humanitarian, development and peacebuilding actors (e.g., joined-up programme planning and an effective accountability mechanism among different actors).
Global Network Against Food Crises & UN World Food Programme & Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & the Intergovernmental Authority on Development & World Bank
Anticipating displacement - Quo vadis?
The past years have seen an increasing number of anticipatory action plans developed by practitioners of anticipatory action to anticipate displacement, also when it is not linked to an extreme weather event.At the same time more and more models are available to predict migration flows and displacements, some of which can go beyond forecasting trends a country-level and might be specific enough to enable anticipatory action. This session will showcase a few examples of anticipatory action on displacement and discuss with experts what can be anticipated and what is better left to response.
Anticipation Hub, partners & networks
Anticipatory action triggers: From development to evaluation
Scaling up of anticipatory action depends on improved and optimized i) trigger mechanisms, ii) sets of pre-agreed actions, and ii) flexible funds. However, agencies involved in anticipatory action now face insurmountable pressure to provide evidence on the need to link pre-agreed actions to flexible financing through impact evaluations.Given that, timing is key in anticipatory action, its effectiveness is dependent robust trigger mechanism to provide early warning to activate actions to save lives and protect livelihoods ahead of a shock. Trigger mechanism are monitoring tools designed to build evidence and confidence about hazards' development and potential impact. Creating a trigger mechanism requires a deep understanding of hazard risk.
This session will introduce the trigger development process for major hazards such as drought, tropical cyclones and floods and propose options to evaluate the anticipatory action trigger systems based on its representation (Indicator selection, threshold and weighting, warning levels),actionability of warning information, hazard impact, and applicability and user friendliness of trigger system.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & partners
The risks and rewards of multiple triggers in anticipatory action
The growth in Anticipatory Action has brought with it new actors, many of whom have developed their own protocols and activation triggers. If not well coordinated, this proliferation runs the risk of confusing at-risk communities in regard to which triggers they should follow, potentially leading to tension and conflict. Furthermore, an uncoordinated approach may negatively impact funding or result in more “false positive” activations. While some practitioners call for unification of activation triggers, it is important to recognize that a multiplicity of trigger scenarios can be beneficial in addressing the diversity of needs, geography, capacity within a community. We must also acknowledge that the actual hazard might differ from the forecast, in terms of scale, pathways, and timing, so coordinated simultaneous triggers may provide activation flexibility that might mitigate impact.Therefore, World Vision with Start Network would like to invite the participants to discuss the effectiveness of having multiple triggers, as well as consequences they need to anticipate should the disaster not materialize or the actual hazards be larger than forecast. By the end of the session, we expect some ideas and recommendation will emerge on increasing the effectiveness of multiple trigger scenario in anticipatory action protocols.
World Vision & Start Network
Beyond evacuation to justify activation: Localized, sudden onset extreme hydrometeorlogical events require new approaches to anticipatory action
Anticipatory action has lagged behind for flash floods (including flooding from intense precipitation), urban flood events (including flash floods and compound flood events such as flash and storm surge flooding), glacial lake outburst floods, mudflows, landslides, and landslips, etc. These are devastating to those who experience them but have not yet been addressed within the anticipatory action community.Due to changes in population, settlement patterns and other pressures, areas are experiencing these events that have never before in the past. Forecasting skill for the physical elements of these events is increasing.
This session seeks to outline challenges in developing anticipatory action systems for localized, sudden-onset, high-impact hydrometeorological events, creating space for a critical discussion on if and to what extent the current standards and guidelines for protocol development that are both applicable to these types of events and are able to support anticipatory action for the most underserved and traditionally deprioritized vulnerable populations.
We will discuss what kinds of actions that might be feasible, seeking to co-produce a set of principles and to differentiate areas that may not be candidates at the moment but should be prioritized once enabling factors are addressed.
German Red Cross & Columbia University Climate School and Climate Centre & International Organization for Migration &
University of Canterbury New Zealand & University of Oklahoma & partners
Beyond data: Embracing complexity in anticipatory action through joint analysis
The global community is faced with an increasing number of protracted and complex crises, emerging from a combination of conflict, successive economic shocks, natural hazards, and extreme weather events brought on by climate change. To overcome this challenge, there is a need for anticipatory action to shift from a data-centric and single-hazard approach, which fails to accommodate the intricate complexities of diverse contexts with uncertain futures, to a multi-hazard and multiple-scenario approach.ACAPS will present their Joint Anticipatory Analysis Workshops (JAAW), which aim to equip participants to incorporate anticipatory thinking into the strategic planning and activities of humanitarian organisations. By jointly envisioning diverse possible future developments and conceptualising their impacts on affected populations and humanitarian operations, participants will gain insights into an applied methodology that supports the implementation of more robust and contextualised programming that considers the dynamic complexity of humanitarian crises.
Join us to explore how this comprehensive approach sets the stage for effective preparedness measures and more fit-for-purpose and impactful anticipatory action.
ACAPS
Failure Cafe: Managing risks in anticipatory action
Anticipatory action is an emerging approach where early action takes place ahead of predicted hazards that can reduce the impacts of shocks on vulnerable people and their livelihoods and improve emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. The risk of 'acting in vain' (delivering early action when forecasts are inaccurate) is a major perceived barrier to upscale anticipatory action due to the implications for accountability and constraints associated with finite resources.When early action initiatives target communities that are not directly impacted by shocks (due to forecasting errors, changing probabilities and uncertainties), they can tackle wider indirect impacts of poverty, such as food security, nutrition, and well-being with good targeting of poor, vulnerable and marginalized people.
However, early action pilots across the globe speak of good practices and lessons learnt - they seldom talk about failures when things go wrong. This session will talk about that.
British Embassy Kathmandu & National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, Nepal & partners
What matters? Humanitarian perspectives to inform and challenge the REAP initiatives’ future
The early warning early action landscape is shifting rapidly, thanks to innovation and leadership from the humanitarian community. As things change, it is critical to keep building synergies across relevant initiatives to ensure collective impact and better outcomes for the vulnerable. Thanks to its long experience, the humanitarian community has a lot of knowledge to contribute to addressing this challenge.In 2023, the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership undertook a review of its activities to understand whether it is still serving the needs of its Partners in bringing together multiple communities around the shared aim of scaling up early warning early action. The results of this review are going to set the direction of travel over the next two years and beyond, and therefore this session is a prime opportunity for humanitarian Partners and Friends to contribute what REAP can do to help the humanitarian community tackle those head-on.
Risk-informed Early Action Partnership & Global Public Policy Institute
Implementing Anticipatory Action together, how Government, UN, Business and Red Cross all used their specific skills and positions to improve AA in Malawi
There are a lot of different skills, expertise’s and kinds of experience needed to be able to implement Anticipatory Action well.This session brings together an example of a project that was able to bring together a group of organisations that brought all that was needed. First and foremost the government in Malawi (departments for water, meteorology and disaster management) with the mandate and the access, UNICEF Malawi bringing in their network and starting the project, Royal HaskoningDHV with their expert knowledge of flood modelling, Malawi Red Cross Society for local community engagement and 510 from the Netherlands Red Cross with the Impact Based Forecasting Portal, a digital tool that brings it all together.
In this session we will show which role was played by the different organisations, how this worked well together and to which (technical) solution this has lead. Future implementations of Anticipatory Action will also be modelled.
510 initiative of the Netherlands Red Cross & UNICEF & Royal Haskoning DHV &Malawi Red Cross Society & the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services Malawi & Department of Water Resources Malawi
Anticipatory humanitarian actions carried out in Abobo by the local Red Cross
Anticipatory humanitarian actions in the commune of Abobo (commune of the district of Abidjan in Ivory Coast) focus on the prevention and preparation of vulnerable populations in the face of crises and disasters. The objective of our actions is to strengthen the resilience of communities and reduce their dependence on humanitarian aid by anticipating disasters and taking preventive measures.This session will outline the requirements and bring to light the experience.
In fact, the anticipatory humanitarian actions implemented in our locality focus primarily on awareness programs and the training of local communities on the potential risks of floods, conflicts and epidemics. A contingency plan has also been developed to identify specific risks and the measures to be taken in the event of a disaster. This allows us to be proactive and better prepared. It should be noted that our anticipatory humanitarian actions require a long-term approach and close coordination with and local communities. Preventive actions include setting up early warning systems and rapid response mechanisms. In collaboration with the municipal authorities, flood prevention infrastructures, such as irrigation systems, gutters and storm basins have been built to reduce the risks and mitigate the effects of floods. Also, a storage of non-food items (mats, buckets, vases) is set up to ensure a rapid response in the event of flooding and to reduce the delivery times for aid. And finally, the strengthening of our collaboration with local actors/authorities in order to coordinate prevention and preparedness efforts. This collaboration promotes a holistic and sustainable approach to addressing humanitarian challenges.
Red Cross anticipatory action partners across the region
Scaling down to scale up
This session will explore localization as a scaling tool. In theory, if localities and local actors are all prepared to act, they should be able to act faster and in greater numbers.Through the perspectives of local actors throughout Africa, we will discuss the success of local implementation and how this could be used to improve existing anticipatory action efforts.
Local implementing partners in Lesotho, Mozambique, Bangladesh, and Uganda
Scaling up financing for early warning and early action in protracted fragility
Scaling up investment in early warning systems and anticipatory action is crucial to prevent the escalation of crises and reduce the impact on vulnerable communities. The session focuses on the crucial need to enhance financial support for initiatives that aim to provide early warning systems and anticipatory action in humanitarian crises.CREWS projects implementers in conflict affected territories, experts and stakeholders from humanitarian and development sectors will discuss the ways of innovative financing mechanisms and strategies to simplify the accessibility to these funds. They will also present their experience how they were able to adapt solutions in the context of fragility.
Overall, the session serves as a platform for fruitful discussions and knowledge sharing on scaling up financing for early warning and anticipatory action. The participants exchange the successful examples of financing models that have been implemented in different regions and explore the ways of leveraging private sector resources, insurance schemes, and innovative funding mechanisms to ensure sustainable financing f
or anticipatory action.
This session is draws on the need for enhanced coordination among stakeholders, including governments, humanitarian organizations, donors, academia and private sector to facilitate and simplify the access of local authorities and communities to financing mechanisms.
CREWS
Anticipatory action in Europe
Anticipatory Action has been tested and implemented in humanitarian contexts for over a decade mainly in humanitarian aid contexts Africa, Asia and the Americas. Impacts by hydrometeorological events are increasingly felt everywhere, for example also in Europe and expected to exacerbate with climate change and above-average temperature increase by global comparison all over the world This means instruments and approaches are not only applicable for so called classical humanitarian contexts but also for domestic preparedness and responses all over the world.Despite the global decade-long experience in anticipatory action and generally great forecasting and response capacities, anticipatory action in Europe is not yet implemented in a systematic manner, let alone mainstreamed in disaster risk management and mindsets.
This session aims to address efforts and challenges in Europe, starting off from the hazard/impact forecasting capacities moving on to national anticipatory action/response capacities and case studies of organisations’ international experiences transformed to their respective national context and authorities.
German Red Cross & the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies & partners
Revisiting past disasters and reimagining their future
Building on the conversation from the previous Dialogue Platform, this high energy session organised by the Future Leaders Network and the early career researchers of the Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action seeks to develop a taskforce to think out of the box on the big problems still facing anticipatory action. Participants will be asked to re-imagine key historical disaster pathways and identify whether and how anticipatory action could have mitigated the impacts that were seen.Future Leaders Network & the early career researchers of the Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action
Impact Based Forecast (IBF) for de-centralize trigger to activate anticipatory action in the Kurigram district
Successful orientation on IBF concept and it’s use for the trigger development at local level Anticipatory Action for flood for two unions in two upazilas of Kurigram district.The IBF for local level triggering mechanism as coproduction by are agreed to support and produce for anticipatory action as pilot in the Kurigram District. This session will report on that.
UN World Food Programme & implementation partners
Bringing evidence into practice: people centered, contextually tailored, and locally led approaches for inclusive and equitable anticipatory action
The session will look at the key areas of good practices from specific countries, along with recommendations and entry points for a more equal and inclusive anticipatory actions. The will build on the premise that adopting a more people centered, contextually tailored, and locally led approaches to design and implement anticipatory action produce better and more effective outcomes to address the needs of those more at risk, allowing them to prepare and respond to emergencies in ways appropriate for them.The session will use evidence from different agencies (CSOs, CBOs, Academia) showcasing that investing in local action and empowering the most risk groups are the most effective ways to make sure that anticipatory action does not leave anyone behind.
Plan International, on behalf of the Protection, Gender and Inclusion Working Group of the Anticipation Hub
Untangling complex systems for anticipatory action - the launch of the Anticipation Hub Technical Working group on multi-risk
There is an opportunity to strengthen the integration of multi-risk approaches to improve humanitarian anticipation and response to impacts of multiple interrelated events. The new technical working group on multi-risk (which includes for example compound risk) aims to facilitate connections across academia, practitioners, and donors; accelerate learning; and focus on hands-on joint analyses to produce practical guidance for the sector.In this session, you will help shape the agenda of the working group and practitioners will share insights on how they have integrated multi-risk approaches in complex contexts to improve anticipatory action.
Join us to learn more about multi-risk analysis, opportunities and challenges!
Anticipation Hub Technical Working group on multi-risk
Workshops
Anticipatory action - an introduction
What is the definition of a trigger again? And how to develop early actions? What are the key elements of anticipatory action? When does anticipatory action end and where does response start?
In this session we will bring everybody up to speed regarding anticipatory action so that you are well prepared for three days of anticipatory action talk. We will walk you through the concept of anticipatory action: why we do it, how we do it, when we do it and with whom?! It will be an interactive session that includes examples, small exercises and time for reflection and your questions. Don’t be shy, this session is the space to get to know anticipatory action and ask all your questions!
Forecast based Financing Unit of the German Red Cross
Achieving Early Warning for All: Strategies and Synergies for Implementation
Half of countries globally do not have adequate early warning systems and even fewer have regulatory frameworks to link early warnings to emergency plans.The proposed session on Achieving Early Warning for All aims to explore strategies and synergies for implementing effective early warning systems. This session will provide a platform for experts, practitioners, and policymakers to share experiences, insights, and best practices in designing and implementing end-to-end early warning systems that are inclusive, integrated, and accessible to all.
The session will outline the strategic implementation of the four pillars of the EW4All initiative – Risk Knowledge, Observations & Forecasting, Dissemination & Communication and Preparedness & Response – and highlight the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in establishing sustainable early warning systems that respond to the needs of the most vulnerable populations. Additionally, the session will discuss ways to overcome challenges and barriers in the implementation of early warning systems, including addressing knowledge gaps, building technical capacity, and strengthening institutional frameworks.
Ultimately, the session will aim to engage the early action community in an insightful and thought-provoking discussion, coming away with key takeaways and recommendations for advancing effective and inclusive early warning systems globally.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction & World Meteorological Organization & International Telecommunication Union & International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
The Global Shield: relevance to anticipatory action
The Global Shield aims to increase protection for vulnerable people against climate risks by substantially enhancing and scaling up pre-arranged finance coupled with social protection mechanisms and early warning systems. Greater financial protection, and faster and more reliable disaster preparedness and response, will help to cost-efficiently and effectively minimise and address losses and damages exacerbated by climate change.This session will focus on the Global Shield’s potential to promote Anticipatory Action through employing holistic approaches, highlighting its cooperation with and early warning actors (especially in the framework of the United Nations Secretary General’s Early Warning for All Initiative), as well as the Climate Risk & Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), to enable payouts even before disasters hit and support anticipatory action, e.g. by supporting forecast-based financing approaches of humanitarian actors.
The session will also discuss how the Global Shield Solutions Platform can provide support for climate risk insurance and other CDRFI instruments, incl. anticipatory and forecast-based risk financing. The session will conclude with an interactive Q&A session with the audience members to allow participants to find out more on how they can engage with the Global Shield.
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) & InsuResilience Global Partnership
Exploring adaptations: Experiences & ideas how to adapt DRF instruments to fuel anticipatory action
In this deep-dive workshop we will discuss experiences and strategies for adapting disaster risk financing instruments such as insurance, crisis modifiers or reserve funds to fuel anticipatory action. By exploring emerging practices, lessons learned and conceptual considerations, participants will have a chance to identify and discuss practical ideas on how to overcome challenges in adapting disaster risk financing instruments for anticipatory action.The workshop forms the basis of a policy paper being developed by the Sectoral Community ‘Linking Risk Financing and Anticipatory Action’.
Anticipation Hub & partners
Where next for earth observations and anticipatory action?
This workshop will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss how Earth Observations have been harnessed to support humanitarian action in some of the largest and most complex disasters recently experienced. We will look at a spectrum of products that have been developed by data providers and unpack lessons learned by both product developers and product users.The workshop will actively engage participants in identifying opportunities for building on these lessons to date and determining where can we go from here. We will also explore how emerging technologies can be leveraged to assist us in this journey.
Anticipation Hub Earth Observation for Anticipatory Action Working Group (Co-Chairs NASA & Australian Red Cross)
Child-centered anticipatory action: education and protection as a key entry point for child participation
Around the world, millions of children are still missing out on their chance to go to school due to climate disasters, cyclical conflict and displacement - and girls are the worst affected. Learning disruptions, damage to school infrastructure and displacement significantly impact educational attainment, jeopardize their well-being and overall development. The risk of dropping out of school and never returning dramatically increases. In turn this can significantly increase protection risks especially for adolescent girls, including child marriage and child labour.Anticipatory action has the potential to provide an approach to address and reduce these impacts, by taking education focused early action. Given climate change is exacerbating risks, there is an urgent need to raise awareness in both education and anticipatory action spaces to advance this agenda and uphold the rights of children.
This session aims to encourage education practitioners to engage in anticipatory action as part of their preparedness, mitigation and response, as well as make connections practitioners to consider life-saving education and protection related triggers, early warnings and early actions that place children and their protection at the centre. Equally education can provide an approach to support and inspire inclusive, gender responsive child and youth meaningful participation in anticipatory action.
Global Education Cluster & Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Systems & Finish Red Cross in Zimbabwe & Plan International & Malawi Red Cross & partners
A collective push for LLAA - Locally Led Anticipatory Action (LLAA)? Where do we go from here?
Locally-led approaches are needed to scale up and mainstream current best practice in anticipatory action. The session will present an overview of the briefing on Locally led Anticipatory Action (LLAA) jointly established by GNDR, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Start Network and Welthungerhilfe.The session aims to provide examples of these benefits, drawing on existing projects around the world, and the evidence from these that has been collected by organizations that work closely with local communities as they lead and implement anticipatory action. It also sets out the steps needed for this approach to become fully embedded across the anticipatory action sector, rather than being seen as a parallel process or an add-on to, or ‘tick box’ for, existing projects.
The session acknowledges that there is not one type of LLAA, it will differ depending on the hazard and the geographic location and advocates for it to be recognized as a strength rather than a downside. The session will close with recommendation on how to promote LLAA.
Welthungerhilfe & the MEAL AHA
Doing better, not just doing more: Conflict-sensitive anticipatory action as a commitment and way of working
Any humanitarian assistance is an intervention into the context. Conflict sensitivity informed by comprehensive, or at least good enough, context analysis, is crucial in the design and implementation of anticipatory action in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Where anticipatory action is undertaken without it, interventions may have unintended side-effects and do more harm than good by exacerbating existing tensions or deepening societal divides. While the need for conflict sensitivity is increasingly recognized within the anticipatory action community, acting on it requires taking forward a commitment to context analysis and conflict-sensitive programming. Yet, guidance on practical approaches - what to do and what not to do - is scarce.Building on a training programme currently under development within the Anticipation Hub’s Anticipatory Action in Conflict Practitioners Group, this workshop brings together anticipatory action practitioners and conflict sensitivity experts in anticipatory action and wider humanitarian and development programming. It aims to formulate tangible recommendations for conflict-sensitive anticipatory action, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings, including relevant indicators, minimum standards and requirements. The workshop further invites participants to actively reflect on the current ways of working in their own organizations.
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre & the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Systems and tools to accelerate anticipatory action
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) network and a number of partner organisations have developed systems and online tools/platforms to assess risk and accelerate anticipatory action. The most mature of these tools, such as GDACS and the Pacific Disaster Center’s DisasterAware portal, have been around for more than a decade.Several newer tools include IFRC’s Anticipation Hub and GO platform, OCHA’s impact-forecast modeling platform, UNDP’s risk portal, WFP’s interactive ADAM map viewer, the Start Fund’s Start Ready portal, the WMO’s Weekly Scan, the ACAPS Risk List and Google’s FloodHub.
The aim of this session is to enable interested colleagues to explore these tools with support and guidance of the agencies who have developed them.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies & partners
Anticipatory Action about us without us is not for us: Improving Community Engagement and locally led Anticipatory Action
Community engagement is about placing the knowledge, priorities, vulnerabilities and capacities of at-risk and affected communities front and centre. Community engagement plays a particularly important role for anticipatory action in that it supports the development and implementation of context-specific, conflict-sensitive and timely interventions. In our commitment to leave no one behind, community engagement constitutes a critical link to bringing intersectional vulnerability factors to light.Through improved community engagement, we can ensure an inclusive approach to anticipatory action programming by reflecting the perspectives and priorities of at-risk people, including groups who are particularly vulnerable due to gender, age and other diversity dimensions. This includes ensuring that anticipatory action programming is continually informed through the integration of community perspectives and priorities, not least though working with those on the frontline of a crisis. In short: Community engagement is key to quality anticipatory action.
This workshop will introduce and take forward practical steps to engage at-risk people and communities with an emphasis on understanding and tailoring anticipatory action interventions to the specific risks, needs, priorities and capacities of women, men, young people, older people, minority groups, internally displaced people and people with disabilities.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & partners
Lessons from anticipatory action in outbreak preparedness, prevention and response
In 2022, the Anticipatory Action and Health Working Group focused on conceptual ideas around methods. Across 2022 and 2023, new pilots for malaria and cholera were implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa, and additional protocols are continuing to be worked on for cholera, dengue and other climate-sensitive infectious diseases. Thus for this session in 2023, we focus on the evidence to establish what matters most in anticipatory action for epidemic-prone diseases.This session will blend conceptual ideas with lessons from the practical experience. We will hear from speakers who have been involved in a variety of different anticipatory approaches. These will include:
The use of climate variables (higher uncertainty, long lead time) in malaria prediction models (e.g. Malaria Anticipation Project in South Sudan since implementation)
The use of surveillance based approaches (certain, short lead time) in an anticipatory action framework for cholera since implementation in 2022
Use of local actors and community-based surveillance to improve alerts and decrease response time, with examples of from Indonesia and Kenya
The process of developing EAPs for a variety of diseases in a number of countries by NS and partners
This will be followed by an interactive brainstorming session to develop a decision tree on required data and resources to use different anticipatory action approaches in different contexts.
Médecins sans Frontières Canada & partners
Working Through the Anticipatory Action Timeline: What Happens before Activation?
Oftentimes, when anticipatory actions (AA) are presented, the focus is on the activation itself, the activities that were implemented, and their impact. However, since AA is proactive by nature, there is plenty of pre-planning that takes place in advance of the activation. This workshop will go through these crucial steps involved in anticipatory approaches such as the use of risk information to develop triggers, the decision-making processes, and the contingency planning for anticipatory activities.It will present two different approaches to AA; one through our Start Ready mechanism, which is a pooled fund for predictable climate risks with pre-arranged financing, and one through our Start Fund Anticipation Alerts, which allows NGOs to dynamically monitor risks and raise an alert on a more flexible basis. Participants will work together in groups facilitated by Start Network staff to go through examples of different hazards and the approach which can be taken for each and then the steps involved.
This workshop will also touch on how more locally led AA can be enabled through these two approaches by highlighting the ways that local actors are engaged in each step.
Start Network
Data Guardians game for anticipatory early action
The Data Guardian game is a useful tool in helping participants grasp the significance of data in the decision-making process for anticipatory action. Initially, participants are divided into four groups, assuming the roles of government decision-makers. Each group is tasked with investing in various governmental agencies to enhance their data collection and analysis capabilities. Moving on to the second stage of the game, a flood scenario is introduced, prompting the participants to gather information exclusively from the agencies they had initially invested in. They are only permitted to access data and information from these specific agencies. Armed with this information, the groups then proceeded to make crucial judgments regarding the activation of an early action protocol.Join us!
Netherland Red Cross 510 data team & German Red Cross