Optional reading

Online training – Humanitarian Aid Volunteering

Example of anticipatory action

To get an impression of what anticipatory humanitarian action can look like in practice, we
will turn to the example of Forecast-based Financing (FbF).
Forecast-based Financing is a suitable example of anticipatory action in practice, because it
contains all the elements that are central to this approach: Once a certain trigger is activated,
prearranged funding is released to finance a set of “Early Actions”. These “Early Actions” are
predefined in an “Early Action Protocol”. The time between the activation of a trigger that
indicates a certain extreme event and the event itself is called “Lead Time”. This is the crucial
time frame, in which funding is released and Early Actions are initiated. It varies between few
days and several weeks to months.
You can learn more about Forecast-based Financing.

Click on the “play” button to see the video

We will also look at a concrete project example provided and prepared by the German Red
Cross.

If you want to browse through more examples, you can check out this interactive map
provided by the German Red Cross.

The commitment to more anticipation and early action and its widespread acceptance
reflects the potential that this new way of working bears:

• Anticipatory Action is cost-efficient: Studies indicate that acting ahead of crises is

significantly less costly than investing in reactive responses and recovery.

• Anticipatory Action is effective: The evidence also indicates that anticipatory projects
have indeed been able to reduce disaster impacts and to enhance the impact of
disaster preparedness (Anticipation Hub 2019).

Despite the promising evidence, to date, however, Anticipatory Action has not turned out to
be a ‘silver bullet’: The impact of Anticipatory Action varies across contexts and crucially
hinges on the availability of donors, the capacities on the ground, and the availability of
suitable data. At the organisational level, the implementation of anticipatory action requires
at least a certain degree of technical expertise and logistical flexibility.