Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks

Session title: A system-wide shift from reacting to anticipating humanitarian crises - integration of anticipatory action into the humanitarian programme cycle?

26 Apr 23 14:00-15:30 UTC+2 (Pleniere C)

SessionAbstract

Acute food insecurity is on the rise. According to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2022 Mid-Year Update, as many as 205.1 million people will face acute hunger in 45 countries, the highest number ever reported by the GRFC over the last seven years. With the increasing frequency of crises, humanitarian needs are increasing while financial resources are not keeping pace with such growing needs.
Anticipatory action is an approach with proven potential to reduce the humanitarian consequences of hazards, and thus the cost of assistance. There is collective evidence that anticipating disasters by protecting lives and livelihoods ahead of time can curb the cascading effects of shocks that lead to food insecurity and acute hunger. By safeguarding agricultural livelihoods and food security from both primary and secondary impacts of hazards, anticipatory action can also play a significant role in fragile settings where such hazards can further exacerbate the effects of ongoing conflict.

Although anticipatory action has gained significant momentum due to the increasing positive results and evidence during the past years, it is still far from being fully mainstreamed into the humanitarian programme cycle. There are, however, some encouraging developments: recently, for instance, the Country Based Pooled Funds guidelines started to include provisions to enable anticipatory action, which could contribute towards moving to country-led AA at scale.

Fully integrating anticipatory action within the HPC has programmatic and financial implications. How to define AA in situations of protracted crisis with large humanitarian programmes? How to estimate AA funding needs based on risks? How to ensure that AA and post-disaster response and recovery are programmed in a coherent and complementary manner? What are the implications for humanitarian actors? How can the voices and preferences of communities be prioritized in this process?

This session will explore what are the challenges, opportunities and required actions for AA to be embedded within the humanitarian programme cycle to leverage synergies and complementarities between AA and humanitarian response programming.

Speakers

Moderator:
Gantsetseg Gantulga, Anticipatory Action Coordinator,International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Speakers:
Ahmed Amdihun, Programme Coordinator, Disaster Risk Management Programme, IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC)
Abdul Majid,Global Coordinator, global Food Security Cluster (gFSC)
Nora Guerten,Anticipatory Action Specialist, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
Jesse Mason, Global Coordinator Anticipatory Action, World Food Programme (WFP)
Martin Buettner,Humanitarian Affairs Officer, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Anna Farina,Head of Crisis Anticipation and Risk Finance, Start Network