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Old friends and new ideas at the 12th Global Dialogue Platform
More than 1,800 participants registered for the 12th Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action, which this year is being held under the theme ‘Mainstreaming anticipatory action: collaboration in complex contexts’. Governments are central to the process of mainstreaming and, during the opening ceremony, Christof Johnen from the German Red Cross noted the strong government representation in the room and online: “We have 40 government representatives here today; this is a real success and thank you for engaging with us.”
Many of the sessions, talks and workshops over the three-day event will explore what mainstreaming means in practice and how we can achieve this, especially in the complex contexts found in many countries. But before these discussions got under way, everyone took a little time to remember Pablo Suarez, an old friend to many at the dialogue platforms who sadly passed away earlier this year. Pablo helped to establish the concept of anticipatory action over 10 years ago and some of his colleagues at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre shared their memories of working with him. Many talked about how he had inspired them, and many others in the humanitarian sector, to work outside our comfort zones.
“Pablo emphasized the value of trust to ‘make the magic happen’. He was a genius – but combined this with humility and curiosity.”
Different approaches to mainstreaming anticipatory action
The bulk of the opening day was taken up with 12 parallel sessions, which took the participants to many corners of the world – from eastern Africa to Jordan via Pakistan – and tackled several subjects. There was an update from the Early Warnings for All initiative and a discussion that explored how to increase access to financing, among many others.
Following these, the participants had an opportunity to learn about new developments in the anticipatory action sector through a set of quick-fire ‘Ignite’ talks. This is, after all, the Global Dialogue Platform and practitioners working around the world – in Bangladesh, Fiji, Haiti, Malawi, Zimbabwe and the Sahel – shared their latest about what is happening on the ground.
Day one concluded with a keynote talk from Hugo Slim, an expert in international relations who specializes in the ethics of war and humanitarian aid. Hugo presented some of the main arguments from his new book, Humanitarianism 2.0: New Ethics for the Climate Emergency, and outlined their relevance for anticipatory action. This included some of the challenges facing the sector, along with an urge for humanitarians to work more closely with nature: by considering the ecological capacity and expertise available.
But there was also heartfelt praise for what the anticipatory action community has achieved: “You have brought scientists, financiers and practitioners together [and] created a fresh, living community… In doing this, you have changed the humanitarian sector: now, we can anticipate a hazard’s impacts.”
Photos from the opening day of the 12th Global Dialogue Platform










The 12th Global Dialogue Platform is hosted by the Anticipation Hub, a joint initiative of the German Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. It is being organized in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Start Network and Welthungerhilfe, with support from the German Federal Foreign Office.
Photos © Anticipation Hub / Philipp Meise