Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean faces some of the world’s most predictable yet devastating hazards: recurrent droughts tied to El Niño, increasingly intense hurricanes such as Beryl in 2024, and frequent floods and wildfires. Between 2000 and 2022, more than 1,500 disasters affected 190 million people across the region - evidence that reactive responses alone are no longer viable. 

Anticipatory Action is therefore gaining ground as a practical and cost-effective way to protect lives and livelihoods. Momentum accelerated during 2024, with a doubling of active anticipatory action frameworks and the 6ᵗʰ Regional Dialogue Platform in Cartagena uniting over 550 partners under the banner “Regional Solutions for Regional Challenges”. Crucially, governments are now leading: For example, the 2025-2030 Regional Plan for Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management (PRGIRD) in Central America and the Dominican Republic embeds anticipatory action, and the first regional strategy to institutionalise anticipatory action - endorsed by six Central American countries and the Dominican Republic - sets out common legal, financial and operational milestones.

Yet important gaps remain. Frameworks and financing are still concentrated in a handful of subregions and organizations; many activations are ad-hoc and underfunded; and harmonization of a common understanding of the concept needs to be strengthened. Priorities for the coming years are clear:

• Institutional integration:  Anchor anticipatory action in national laws, budgets and disaster-risk plans to ensure sustainability.
• Definition harmonisation: Promote a shared, region-wide understanding of anticipatory action to reduce fragmentation and streamline activation protocols.
• Collaboration and learning: Strengthen national working groups and the Regional Technical Group on Anticipatory Action (GTAA LAC) as hubs for evidence, peer exchange and cross-regional partnerships.
• Flexible financing and data: Expand pre-arranged funding and real-time information systems so that alerts translate into timely, locally led action.

By leveraging the region’s strong institutional capacity and collective commitment, Latin America and the Caribbean can move decisively from reacting after disasters to acting before they strike - building safer, more resilient communities for the decade ahead.

The current state of anticipatory action in Latin America and the Caribbean can be accessed here. Actors and donors alike are encouraged to adopt the harmonised definition of the concept at the regional level, which is aligned with the common global definition.

Regional and National Working Groups

The Regional Technical Group on Anticipatory Action in Latin America and the Caribbean (GTAA LAC) is a technical and inter-institutional coordination space that promotes the expansion and consolidation of anticipatory action across the region. It is composed, among others, of UN agencies, NGOs, climate centers, and intergovernmental organizations.

The group works in a coordinated manner across the following thematic areas:

• Early warning systems and climate services
• Development and activation of anticipatory action frameworks
• Institutionalization of anticipatory action
• Access to flexible financing
• Joint learning and regional knowledge exchange

For more information about anticipatory action in the region, collaboration proposals, or any other inquiries, please contact the GTAA LAC through its shared email address, gtaalac@gmail.com.

The region is also home to a growing number of national anticipatory action working groups and coordination spaces, including:

• Ecuador: National AA Working Group
  • Chaired by: Ecuadorian Red Cross, Sabina Ortíz; FAO, Pamela Jarrín; WFP Crescenzo Rubinetti
  • Co-Chair: National Secretariat for Risk Management, Julio Celorio
• El Salvador: Anticipatory Action and Early Warning System Technical Group
  • Chaired by: El Salvador General Directorate for Civil Protection, Sonia Sorto and Román Heredia
  • Co-Chairs: FAO, Salvadorean Red Cross, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
• Guatemala: Anticipatory Action Advisory Group
  • Chaired by: Guatemalan Red Cross, Sergio Cabañas
  • Co-Chair: WFP, Bernardo Díaz
  • Co-Chair: FAO, Gustavo García
• Honduras: National Anticipatory Action Working Group
  • Chaired by: German Red Cross
• Haiti: National Working Group on Anticipatory Action
  • Chaired by: OCHA, Emmanuelle Schneider and Shedna Italis
  • Co-Chair: WFP, Daniel Ham and Jude Castra Pierre

Actors interested in implementing anticipatory action in the region are advised to reach out to the GTAA LAC at the regional level and coordinate their implementation through national working groups where they exist. Otherwise, they are encouraged to jointly establish national working groups.