Date & Time

Location

Webinar

Category

Webinar

Description

As global crises grow in frequency and intensity, anticipatory action has emerged as a promising approach to mitigating the impacts of disasters before they escalate. Anticipatory action aims to shift the focus from traditional, reactive crisis management to a more proactive approach that anticipates and mitigates the effects of potential crises.

Governments are increasingly encouraged to integrate anticipatory action into their policy frameworks, with the hope that these anticipatory measures will enhance the resilience of food, land and water systems and reduce the impacts on vulnerable populations. The fundamental premise is that by embedding anticipatory action into existing government structures and protocols, it will be possible to create more effective and timely responses to emergencies, thereby protecting communities and reducing overall disaster risks.

However, the effectiveness of anticipatory action depends not only on its inclusion in policy documents, but also on its practical implementation and impact. The real question is whether anticipatory measures are genuinely being institutionalized within government structures, and whether they lead to concrete improvements in disaster risk reduction.

This webinar will explore the extent to which governments have integrated anticipatory action into their frameworks and whether these policies result in observable changes during actual crises.

The CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration, with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), is leading efforts on anticipatory action and governance and is aware of the challenges in both institutionalizing and implementing anticipatory action. In collaboration with the Anticipation Hub’s Anticipatory Action in Conflict Practitioners’ Group, this webinar aims to address these critical issues. We will explore how effectively anticipatory action has been incorporated into government structures and whether these policies have led to tangible improvements during actual crises. Case studies from various countries will offer insights into the successes, challenges and lessons learned in integrating anticipatory action into government practices. This aims to determine whether anticipatory action is a bold move to disaster risk reduction, or a bureaucratic nightmare.

Objectives:

• Evaluate how anticipatory action is incorporated into government policies and procedures.
• Assess the impact of anticipatory action policies on actual disaster risk reduction and response.
• Share successful practices and case studies from countries effectively implementing anticipatory action.
• Identify common challenges in the implementation of anticipatory action and explore potential solutions.

Expected outcomes:

• A clear understanding of the integration of anticipatory action and its impact on government’s crisis management.
• Actionable recommendations for improving the implementation of anticipatory action, based on real-world examples.
• Enhanced collaboration and knowledge-sharing among participants on effective anticipatory action strategies.
• Key takeaways and insights on anticipatory action institutionalization within government frameworks, contributing to the development of an information note on the fragility, conflict and migration research agenda led by IWMI.

Moderator and host: Chhavi Sachdev

Opening remarks:

• Alessandra Gilotta, head of the Anticipation Hub

Two respondents:

• Ms Catherine Jones, action lead for Asia-Pacific, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (tbc)
• Dr Decide Mabumbo, senior researcher - climate risk management and disaster resilience, IWMI

Three panellists:

• Asia-Pacific (tbc)
• Mr Daniel Obot, director of disaster risk reduction at the National Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria
• Dr George Otieno, thematic lead for anticipatory action - East Africa, Intergovernmental Authority on Development Climate Prediction and Applications Centre