Date: 14-15 March 2018
Place: Geneva, Switzerland

Is investment in preparedness a good use of humanitarian funding? What are the best approaches to funding and programme design to ensure sustainable solutions and community leadership in preparedness programming? How can we inform future programming to ensure we have the right people with the right skills at the right place and time to prepare for and respond to disasters in the most appropriate way?

An independent review into how the UK responds to humanitarian emergencies highlighted the need for greater investment in preparedness. This led the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to launch the three year Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) in 2014, collectively managed by DFID, the Start Network and the CDAC Network. The programme aimed to significantly improve the quality and speed of humanitarian response in countries at risk of natural disasters or conflict related emergencies through strengthening the capacity of national humanitarian staff, governments, preparedness systems and early warning systems.

The programme has generated significant experiences, lessons and evidence that can help inform key debates and issues facing the humanitarian preparedness sector. The ‘Preparing for Shock: Is Preparedness the New Frontier?’ global conference is being organised to provide a platform for the sector to collectively discuss key issues in disaster preparedness programming and help set the future direction for preparedness investments.

Purpose and thematic focus

The purpose of the conference is to provide a platform for stakeholders working with or as part of the disasters and emergencies preparedness sector to debate key issues affecting the sector in order to inform future policy, practice, programming and funding strategies.

Join donors, NGOs and networks, government representatives, private sector, academic institutions, community representatives and practitioners to explore lessons, experiences and evidence around four thematic areas and inform the way forward for preparedness.

Read more in the first blog of the conference series here.