A Light in the Dark: How Media and Communication Can Support Anticipatory Action to Prevent Humanitarian Emergencies

This policy note explores the roles that media and communication can play in anticipatory action planning, organizational anticipatory action, and supporting communities to take action ahead of crises. It draws on insights from research evidence from a number of BBC Media Action interventions, as well as humanitarian partners and experts, to indicate how media and communication can enable people to take action before a humanitarian crisis hits – and how the humanitarian sector can support this. It demonstrates the importance of fully integrating media and communication into anticipatory action systems – preparing the media and communication ecosystem to play this vital role is itself an anticipatory action. It also outlines three overarching recommendations on how the humanitarian sector can use media and communication to enable people to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities and avert crises.