Anticipatory Action
A new blog series by MapAction’s InnovationLab exploring how preparedness and readiness in the humanitarian sector can help create resilience vis-a-vis future hazards.
Anticipatory action (AA) is a humanitarian term. We will use the Red Cross definition below:
“A set of actions taken to prevent or mitigate potential disaster impacts before a shock or before acute impacts are felt. The actions are carried out in anticipation of a hazard impact and based on a prediction of how the event will unfold. Anticipatory actions should not be a substitute for longer-term investment in risk reduction and should aim to strengthen people’s capacity to manage risks.”
World Disaster Report 2020, IFRC
- November 2023: Welcome to the first post in a new blog series on anticipatory action! The series will explore MapAction’s work to strengthen readiness and preparedness worldwide. Updates. The Anticipation Hub: The 11th Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action
- November 2023: MapAction Data Science Lab: the story so far. Find out, in our second post of the series, how MapAction launched a dedicated data science and innovation hub in 2020 and what they have been up to since.
- February 2024: Strengthening disaster preparedness country-by-country with the INFORM Risk index. Our third post explores MapAction’s work under the INFORM umbrella, specifically our support to national and subnational disaster authorities in Eswatini.
- May 2024: How MapAction is using data to reduce human suffering in Madagascar. For more than a decade, MapAction has provided support to Madagascar’s national disaster management agency, managing and visualising key data to support decision-makers, during tropical storms and cyclones. Now the focus is on strengthening the island’s preparedness for any future disasters.
- June 2024: Simulating anticipatory actions as part of disaster management: MapEx 2024 (Anticipation Hub). The 18th edition of MapEx, the annual disaster simulation event run by MapAction, was recently held in the Peak District National Park, UK. For the first time, the imagined scenario – a cyclone in Madagascar – included major anticipatory action components.
- July 2024: Video: Building anticipatory action models to reduce risk in Eswatini. Our fifth post explores. A review of our work so far with the Eswatini National Disaster Management Agency to build a resilient anticipatory action data risk model.
Additional resources
February 2022: Press Release: IDF partners with MapAction and Start Network to support their efforts in eight climate-vulnerable countries
This work is kindly supported by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and the Insurance Development Forum (IDF).