New IFRC communications resources help to explain anticipatory action

For many in the humanitarian sector, anticipatory action is now a familiar concept. But for those outside of this sector, there is often still some confusion: what does it actually mean?

To help answer this question, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has developed a suite of communications resources to help explain and clarify how anticipatory action works in practice. Launched on World Meteorological Day 2022, these resources are now available for practitioners to use in their advocacy and outreach.

• The IFRC anticipatory action brochure provides a clear and concise overview of this approach: how it works and why it's important.
• A one-page document shares examples of anticipatory action being used for a range of hazards.
• This short video acts as a handy visual guide to this theme, while a series of videos provides real-life examples of National Societies implementing anticipatory action.

“We saw some gaps in existing materials, which bring forward the heavily technical and scientific aspects of anticipatory action,” says Gantsetseg Gantulga, anticipatory action coordinator at IFRC. “With this communications package, we wanted to bring out in simple terms what anticipatory action means, to give practical examples of what National Societies are already doing, and to urge other stakeholders to join the anticipatory action journey.”

IFRC also launched a series of messages on social media, which you can find here or in the gallery below.