The Anticipation Hub's engagement at the High-level Humanitarian Event on Anticipatory Action 

The High-level Humanitarian Event on Anticipatory Action, convened by OCHA and the Governments of Germany and the UK, took place on 9 September 2021. The event brought together leaders from across governments, international financial institutions, the UN and civil society, who delivered powerful statements on their commitments to act to ahead of crises.

Several governments pledged to substantially increase their committment to pre-agreed funding, with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas committing to increase its allocation to at least 5 percent of its overall humanitarian funding, aiming to double its contribution to anticipatory action in 2022 and to eventually contribute 100 million euro in 2023. You can read more about such committments, including those by Ireland, Italy and Egypt in the Co-chairs statement here. The full recording of the event is available here. 

The speakers highlighted how the technology exists – predictive analytical tools, risk analysis and forecasting models – to enable a systemic shift in the humanitarian sector towards more cost-efficient and dignified anticipatory approach.  

There remain critical gaps, however, and the speakers identified several of these: the need to advance anticipatory action to cover a broader range of hazards, and to reach those in conflict-afflicted and fragile states, as well as to prepare for compounding shocks (e.g. disease outbreaks, food insecurity, conflict and displacement) – and the imperative to address the root causes and drivers of risk.  

The importance of fast, flexible, predictable and pre-arranged financing mechanisms was noted throughout, along with the need to embed shock-responsive social protection mechanisms and to empower communities to be at the forefront of anticipatory action on the ground.  

Delegates called for more collaboration and partnerships –  between humanitarian agencies, development actors and especially with governments –  to integrate this anticipatory approach into national disaster risk management frameworks. The value of working together to invest in trigger models, develop financing mechanisms, generate evidence and continuously learn was underscored in many statements.  

A number of speakers highlighted the vital role played by the Anticipation Hub and initiatives such as the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership, the InsuResilience Global Partnership and the Anticipatory Action Task Force. These all help to support and expand such collaboration, from local to global levels.   

Anticipation Hub Statement

The Anticipation Hub issued a statement for delegates at the High-level Humanitarian Event on Anticipatory Action convened by OCHA and the Governments of Germany and the UK. This statement outlines the actions that we are taking to help scale up anticipatory action – to do more, do it better and do it together – as well as outlining the steps that the event’s attendees can take to support our ambitions. 

Video statement from the Anticipation Hub

In this video, Kara Siahaan, the new head of the Anticipation Hub, presents our statement to the High-level Humanitarian Event on Anticipatory Action.

The Anticipation Hub also shared this video for the high-level event explaining why anticipatory action is essential – and how partnerships and coordination are central to this.

This video was developed in collaboration with a number of our partners: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Mozambique Red Cross (CVM), Welthungerhilfe, the University of Sussex, CEPREDENAC (Coordination Center for the Prevention of Disasters in Central America and the Dominican Republic), the START Network, the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) and the World Food Programme (WFP). 

Some of our partners also issued videos for this high-level event; you can watch a selection of these below: 

Featured photo by FAO/ Fahad Kaizer