Across Southern Africa and beyond, locally led anticipatory action (AA) is no longer a “nice to have”—it is a precondition for timely, context appropriate, and accountable way to manage approaching risks. This session explores concrete pathways to shift power and resources to local and national actors across the AA chain—risk monitoring and triggers, local scenarios, programming and decision making, financing, local preparedness and implementation, and accountability. Drawing on experience from the Regional Anticipatory Action Working Group (RAAWG) in Southern Africa, we will unpack what “locally led AA” looks like in practice: who decides, who holds which risks, how information moves, and how funds reach frontline actors  fast and what means local programming and implementation. We will interrogate which community dynamics should be taken into accounts, the role of Indigenous knowledge, barriers (legal, fiduciary, data governance, safeguarding) and spotlight solutions—from locally owned trigger protocols and community validated impact-based thresholds and plans to be pooled risk financing and prearranged subgrants. Participants will work through a real scenario to codesign a powershift “minimum viable package” (MVP) that agencies can operationalize in the next 6–12 months. The session will culminate in an actionable checklist and a shared commitments board to track post HNPW follow-through. This is a hands-on, forward-looking conversation aimed at moving from principles to practice—so that local actors lead, and international partners enable.