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Readout from Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week: anticipatory action firmly anchored in discussions about the Humanitarian Reset
Readout from Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week: anticipatory action firmly anchored in discussions about the Humanitarian Reset
As in previous years, Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW), held in March 2026, saw significant engagement. Around 7,500 people took part, with approximately 2,000 at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland, with 5,500 joining online. Despite several changes to the format, such as reducing the in-person week from five days to three, HNPW remained true to its vibrant, practitioner-driven character – although the relative absence of local actors and the prominence of European-based actors was notable.
Anticipatory action was once again an ‘Area of Common Concern’, with more than 20 sessions dedicated to the topic. Focus areas this year included conflict-sensitive anticipatory action, the institutionalization, mainstreaming and localization of this approach, and data innovations to enhance its effectiveness. In short, anticipatory action was well represented in terms of the breadth of the topic and the actors in this space.
More broadly, the discussions at HNPW, including those on anticipatory action, were shaped by the Humanitarian Reset, which was the focus of the newly established HNPW Community Day on 11 March. This opened with a keynote address by UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher on the need for a ‘transition of power’, followed by a panel discussion with local actors on progress so far. Overall, there were 12 different sessions on this theme, structured around four major tracks.
The Humanitarian Reset
Launched in March 2025, the Humanitarian Reset is a UN-led reform agenda aimed at building a fit-for-the-future humanitarian system in the face of massive funding cuts. The Humanitarian Reset Roadmap, published in November 2025, outlines a broader vision for how the humanitarian system needs to evolve: to become more locally led, efficient, less fragmented, and better equipped to respond to today’s challenges. At its core, it calls for a system that is faster, more accountable, and more grounded in the communities it serves. Since then, IASC members have been asked to develop recommendations on how to translate this ambition into practice.
Anticipatory action and the Humanitarian Reset
Anticipatory action featured prominently throughout the Community Day sessions, not least because it is already addressing many of the Humanitarian Reset’s core ambitions. From the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to UN agencies, NGOs and national governments, anticipatory action helps organizations to devolve decision-making, align responses with communities’ priorities, use data and innovation to act earlier, and demonstrate measurable cost-effectiveness.
At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge that anticipatory action is still a niche approach. In 2024, only 1 per cent of global financing for crises was allocated to anticipatory action. As a result, many of the anticipatory action sessions during the HNPW Community Day, as well as others throughout the week, focused less on defining what anticipatory action is, or making the case for its expansion, and more on exploring how it can be scaled up and contribute further to the wider goals of the Humanitarian Reset.
For example, a flagship session during the Community Day explored ways in which IASC members can anchor anticipatory action more firmly within the humanitarian system. This session, featuring a high-level panel, discussed the recommendations set out in a paper, developed under the leadership of FAO and IFRC, to advance Action Item 25 under the Humanitarian Reset Roadmap; this focuses on scaling up anticipatory action and greening humanitarian action to ensure the humanitarian system is ready to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.
Suggestions emanating from this session focused, inter alia, on calls to: integrate anticipatory action more firmly within the Humanitarian Programme Cycle; unlock more pre-arranged financing; advocate with donors to increase flexible, multi-year funding; and consolidate the coordination of anticipatory action within the IASC. Participants attending the session also called for a stronger emphasis on locally led anticipatory action, and sought further clarification on how to translate the IASC’s recommendations into practice.
Debating the different facets of anticipatory action
A session led by the Anticipatory Action Task Force and UNDRR explored how existing resources and financing mechanisms can be better used to scale up anticipatory action. Through a World Café-style discussion, participants from different sectors – humanitarian, development and disaster risk management – exchanged experiences and practical insights on ways to institutionalize anticipatory action using domestic funding. They also identified innovative financing mechanisms and ways to improve the tracking and alignment of humanitarian, climate and development finance.
Another issue tackled during HNPW was how to scale up anticipatory action in fragile, conflict- and violence-affected settings. Implementing this approach in such settings is challenging but not impossible, and the progress to date and lessons learned were highlighted; these are also discussed in a recent briefing on this theme. During the discussions, the speakers outlined that many of the challenges in these contexts are not unique to anticipatory action, but also applicable to broader humanitarian work; these include access limitations, data challenges and administrative barriers. Examples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Somalia helped to illustrate how actors have navigated these barriers and found innovative solutions.
Anticipatory action: firmly anchored within the humanitarian system
What was striking during HNPW was that participants from the humanitarian sector no longer ask what anticipatory action is; the questions now revolve around how their own work can contribute to its expansion. For instance, a side meeting explored how to use anticipatory action to support maternal and newborn health during crises, with anticipatory action stakeholders, including members of the Nutrition Task Force, and Princess Sarah Zeid, an advisor to the UN Foundation’s Special Initiative on Maternal and Newborn Health in Crisis, joining this conversation.
Overall, HNPW 2026 demonstrated that anticipatory action is firmly anchored within current discussions on how to reform the humanitarian sector. The collaborative spirit around advancing this approach is striking and should not be taken for granted – and nor should it be assumed that anticipatory action will remain central to these discussions, unless we, as the anticipatory action community, keep arguing for it to do so. Translating this spirit and commitment into practice remains as important as ever, and it is a goal that the Anticipation Hub will continue to support.
This article was written by Dr Nikolas Scherer, head of the Anticipation Hub. Photos by the Anticipation Hub. Photo of Tom Fletcher provided by HNPW.
For further details about HNPW, visit the event website.