A new report presents the scale of anticipatory action worldwide

The Anticipation Hub launched a new report this week that captures, for the first time, the scale of anticipatory action worldwide. The report, Anticipatory Action in 2022: A Global Overview, shows that there were 70 anticipatory action frameworks in place in 2022. These covered 7.6 million people worldwide, ensuring they were better prepared to act ahead of the predictable impacts of hazards, and able to recover more quickly afterwards. 

The report was launched at a panel discussion at Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week in Geneva, Switzerland, with around 200 people attending online and in person. “This report shows that 2022 was a significant year for anticipatory action," stated Lisa Doughten from OCHA. "It saw new trigger models developed for new shocks, such as disease outbreaks… and the community has contributed to new policy instruments that will help to institutionalize [this approach]." 

Other core findings from the report show that in 2022: 

• 35 countries were implementing anticipatory action 
• preagreed financing committed through active frameworks reached 138 million US dollars 
• the frameworks in place were activated 47 times, leading to the implementation of anticipatory actions that reached 3.6 million people, as a minimum estimate. 

Panellists from several organizations shared their thoughts on the report and what its analysis means for this approach. For example, Caroline Holt, IFRC, noted that “financing for anticipatory action must not only increase overall; we really need to make sure access to it is [also] available. This is what really drives the opportunity for communities to be at the heart of anticipatory action.”

The report was supported by Germany's Federal Foreign Office, and Susanne Fries-Gaier explained why this approach is so important: “Germany is a big supporter of anticipatory action – and believes that it really works... This report shows the prominent role anticipatory action plays today and that it is much more prominent than a few years ago. This demonstrates the commitment of humanitarians, donors and practitioners to this approach.”

This report is the first in what will become a series of annual overviews by the Anticipation Hub. Over time, these will document changes its global scale, as well as highlighting major new developments in terms of technical progress, policy support and thematic scope.  

This first edition draws upon desk research conducted during 2022 to map anticipatory action frameworks and activations worldwide. This data was then verified and updated by 15 organizations active in this sector, many of which helped to write the report’s thematic and regional reviews.

"The report shows the state of the art of anticipatory action globally, and that it involves a high number of actors in the humanitarian sector," noted Mathieu Destrooper, German Red Cross, who was one of the report's many contributers. "Together, we’ve already changed the paradigm from response to acting ahead of crisis and disasters. And we have been scaling up geographically, with now almost 20 countries on board in the Americas."

One country that activated its framework in 2022 was Honduras, and the experience there was presented during the launch event, as well as being a case study in the report. Showcasing these activations, alongside the aggregated global data, is also important. "The report explains the challenges we feel in each country in the Americas, such as integrating anticipatory action into national frameworks for disaster risk management, localizing capacities for anticipatory action and showcasing the evidence of how activations reduce the impacts of disasters at the community level," said Mathieu.