Chapter 06 · Governance & regulationDevelopment, Impact & Global Frameworks
Anticipatory action
Definition
Actions taken before a crisis hits to prevent or reduce potential disaster impacts, based on forecasts or predictions of how an event will unfold. Per IASC guidance (2024), anticipatory action works best when activities, trigger thresholds and decision rules are pre-agreed, and pre-arranged funding is released immediately once triggers are met.
References
IASC 2024 definition; core components (actions, triggers, pre-arranged finance); implementing organisations.
IFRC 2022 definition; OCHA pilots (Nepal, Bangladesh, Somalia, Malawi).
Overview
What it means
The approach shifts humanitarian response from reacting after disasters to acting before them: cash transfers before floods, livestock protection before droughts, evacuations before cyclones. Its core components are pre-agreed actions and roles, forecast-based triggers combining predictions with exposure and vulnerability data, and pre-arranged financing. It applies to both rapid-onset and slow-onset hazards.
How it is used
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, WFP, FAO, OCHA and NGO networks such as Start Network run anticipatory action frameworks, pilots and financing mechanisms (including forecast-based financing funds). Triggers are increasingly embedded in national disaster risk financing and social protection systems.
Why it matters
Acting earlier is more dignified and more cost-effective than post-disaster relief, and climate change is increasing the frequency of forecastable extremes. Anticipatory action is becoming a standard expectation in climate adaptation and disaster risk finance policy.
Definitions and controversy
Forecast-based financing (FbF) is a financing mechanism for anticipatory action, not a synonym; candidate 1117 should remain distinct when reached.