From shared learning to regional scale: the Great Lakes Regional Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action

From shared learning to regional scale: the Great Lakes Regional Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action

In Africa’s Great Lakes region, droughts, floods, volcanic activity and disease outbreaks rarely occur in isolation. They interact with protracted displacement, conflict and cross-border dynamics, creating layered risks that no single country or institution can manage alone. Acting ahead of predictable shocks has never been more important, but it depends on systems that are coordinated across borders. 

On 31 October 2026, around 40 representatives of national governments, regional institutions, UN agencies and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement will gather in Mombasa, Kenya, for the Great Lakes Regional Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action (GLDAA). 

Held immediately after the 2nd Eastern Africa Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action (EADP2), the GLDAA will create a dedicated space for partners from across the Great Lakes region to exchange experiences, strengthen collaboration and identify priorities for scaling anticipatory action. Participants from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda will explore how stronger regional cooperation can better protect communities facing multiple and overlapping risks. 

Why a dedicated Great Lakes dialogue?

While the Great Lakes region shares many priorities with the wider agenda for anticipatory action in eastern Africa, the sub-region has distinct features, including:

• agroclimatic systems that cross national borders
• persistent displacement and protection risks
• uneven capacity among meteorological, hydrological and disaster management authorities
• limited access to anticipatory financing for national and local actors. 

Each of these calls for regional approaches that are tailored to the context.

Organized by FAO, IFRC and WFP, in partnership with ICPAC, the GLDAA will spotlight lessons from the ECHO-funded Great Lakes Regional Disaster Preparedness project. Since 2024, this project has mainly worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, with a wider regional lens, supporting multi-hazard anticipatory action systems. The GLDAA will focus on three areas: 

1. progress, lessons and evidence
2. technical harmonization, institutionalization and collaboration
3. inclusive, protection-centred anticipatory action.

Looking ahead

During the event, participants will agree on priority actions and key messages for the next phase of anticipatory action in the Great Lakes region, to be captured in the GLDAA summary recommendations and, where relevant, feed into the EADP2 regional declaration. More than a reflection on progress, the GLDAA is an opportunity to help shape a shared regional vision for anticipatory action, so that communities across the region are better prepared for future shocks and stresses.