Acting before a disaster is crucial – it can safeguard lives and livelihoods, build resilience to future shocks and ease pressure on strained humanitarian resources. Anticipatory Action refers to actions triggered before a crisis to mitigate the worst effects of the crisis, or even avoid crisis altogether. It is a rapidly growing concept used in humanitarian aid, climate change and disaster, and climate finance. Recent years has seen steady progress in anticipatory approaches across Asia and while complimentary initiatives exist in the Pacific, more work is needed to develop context-specific anticipatory action systems in the region.

The Anticipatory Action in the Pacific Sensitization Workshop seeks to:

• Sensitize regional and national partners on the key building blocks of anticipatory action, including risk information, early warning, and forecasting, designing, and planning inclusive and people-centered anticipatory actions and pre-arranged financing
• Identify how anticipatory action fits within the existing disaster risk management mechanisms and coordination structures in the Pacific to better understand the gaps and opportunities
• Develop a roadmap for a coordinated approach and action towards anticipatory action
• Share best practices from the Pacific and ASEAN region and joint planning.

The workshop is coordinated and organized jointly by FAO, World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership.

The Anticipatory Action in the Pacific Sensitization Workshop will be held under the umbrella of the Pacific Resilience Partnership and the leadership of PIFS.

Related links:

Pathways towards anticipatory action in Pacific Island Countries