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.