FAO Emergency and Resilience Director addresses Council of the EU on anticipatory actions

Upon invitation by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, FAO’s Director for Emergencies and Resilience Rein Paulsen presented the critical situation of global food insecurity and FAO's work on anticipatory action (AA) to the Working Party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid (COHAFA).

Paulsen briefed COHAFA as well as European Commission’s DG ECHO on the alarming global food insecurity situation and FAO’s work on anticipatory action (AA) to build resilience and address the root causes of food insecurity. 
He emphasized the importance of flexible funding for swift responses to food security challenges. "Pre-arranged un-earmarked flexible funding has been critical for FAO to act timely", he stated.

Members of COHAFA expressed their appreciation for FAO's presentation, underlined the importance of such exchanges, and shared concerns about the global food insecurity outlook. 

They also recognized that anticipatory action offers a significant opportunity to save lives before predictable shocks occur, advancing the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus by enhancing complementarities between humanitarian and development programming and financing.

Beyond his involvement at the COHAFA Session, Paulsen engaged in a number of bilateral discussions with representatives from EU member states and EU institutions such as DG ECHO and DG INTPA as well as with representatives from Belgium, Flanders and Spain. 

Since 2016, FAO has been working closely with governments and partners to provide capacity development support on AA in more than 40 countries. It has also delivered direct support to at-risk populations through over 50 interventions ahead of forecasted shocks. 

In line with this approach, FAO recently launched the El Niño Anticipatory Action and Response Plan to support populations at the highest risk of El Niño impacts in 25 countries during the second half of 2023. So far, FAO has initiated anticipatory action interventions in 12 of these priority countries.

In the Dry Corridor, FAO is supporting communities with water harvesting, soil conservation, and veterinary supplies against drought impacts. In Uganda and Somalia, FAO teams are supporting repairs to flood control infrastructure, positioning veterinary supplies and distributing post-harvest storage solutions to ensure food security. Such early action has been made possible through un-earmarked flexible funding to SFERA with contributions from EU Member States including Belgium, Germany and Sweden.