The 7th Asia-Pacific Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action
The 7th Asia-Pacific Dialogue Platform was held in two parts: an in-person meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 13 to 15 June 2023, followed by a series of online sessions and community conversations during the second half of the year (July to September).
Drawing inspiration from Nepal’s famous mountain ranges, the theme for 2023 was ‘Reaching new heights: exploring trails for the sustainable growth of anticipatory action’. The main objectives for both parts - in person and online - were to:
- share knowledge and evidence from the implementation, mainstreaming and evaluation of anticipatory action
- learn from country examples on collaboration and scaling up
- identify good practices, gaps, roadblocks and milestones for a joint way forward at the regional and national levels.
Over three days, a series of interactive sessions and workshops showcased the increasing momentum and growing experience in the Asia-Pacific region, drawing from the many anticipatory action projects, activations and simulations across this region. Participants had opportunities to share their own experiences, good practices and lessons learned, with a strong focus on cross-country conversations and identifying opportunities for collaboration and scaling up.
A gallery of photos and artwork from this in-person meeting is available here.
Following the in-person meeting in Kathmandu, a series of virtual events was held online.
Online session #5 - Raising awareness of early warning education for kids
1 September 2023
Early warning and early action can save lives, and the Early Warning For All (EW4All) initiative aims to protect everyone through early warning systems by 2027. For this reason, we must build the capacity of individuals to act. Children, as one of the most vulnerable groups in society, must also be equipped with proper knowledge about early warnings. One way to do this is through early warning education for children, and this session presented some ways to do this.
Online session #4 - A roadmap towards shared resilience: mainstreaming anticipatory action into government systems and coordination mechanisms
29 August 2023
Disasters cause the loss of life, damage infrastructure and disrupt livelihoods. However, when governments, civil society organizations, communities and households have access to robust and timely information, they can take actions to prevent or reduce losses. This thematic session considered the progress that has been made by different goverment actors working with disaster management agencies in Bangladesh to monitor and produce hazard-related forecasts and deliver warnings and, accordingly, implement anticipatory action to reduce the adverse impacts of hazards on lives and livehoods. It also looked at how to ensure early warnings reach the people, entities and places most exposed to those hazards, and in ways that are reliable, actionable, accessible and inclusive of all.
Rewatch this session here.
Online session #3 - Financing anticipatory action: SUFAL’s experience of tackling this from a localization perspective
21 August 2023
In this online session, the Supporting Forecast-based Action and Learning (SUFAL) project in Bangladesh shared its experience of trying to enable financing mechanisms for anticipatory action, from local to national levels. The speakers, from different tiers of government institutions (local to national), explained how they are enabling the financing for anticipatory action. This session was led by CARE Bangladesh.
Rewatch this session here.
Online session #2 - Highlights from the 7th Asia-Pacific Dialogue Platform
28 June 2023
In this community conversation, we reflected on the main themes, outcomes and action points from the in-person meeting. Following a presentation of the core discussion points from Nepal, participants contributed their own ideas, lessons and experiences.
Rewatch this session here.
Online session #1 - Regional anticipatory action dialogue by OpenStreetMap
20 June 2023
This online session provided a platform for all stakeholders involved in disaster management and anticipatory action, bringing together organizations and government agencies to discuss the current state of disaster preparedness, response and anticipatory action in the Asia-Pacific region. The primary objective was to showcase how OpenStreetMap supports anticipatory action efforts, and to foster collaboration between the Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific and anticipatory actors. The session identified needs, gaps and co-creation opportunities for solutions that the Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific can support, by showcasing examples of anticipatory action work from the ground.
Rewatch this session here.
Get in touch!
If you have any questions about the 7th Asia-Pacific Dialogue Platform, please contact us at dialogueplatform@drk.de.
If you are sharing information about the event on social media, please use the hashtag #APDialoguePlatform
Acknowledgements
The 7th Asia-Pacific Dialogue Platform was hosted by the Anticipation Hub and jointly organized by the German Red Cross, the American Red Cross, the Finnish Red Cross, the Danish Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme and Start Network. This Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action was supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.