What We (Don't) Know About Anticipatory Action

Anticipatory action refers to actions taken to reduce the humanitarian impacts of a disaster before it occurs, leveraging forecasts and rapid deployment systems. Today, there are hundreds of anticipatory action “frameworks” in place, and major institutions (including those represented on the panel) have made anticipatory action a pillar of their humanitarian programmes. Skeptics may worry that such programmes are scaling prematurely — before evidence on their cost-effectiveness is in. This panel gathers experts from academia and the policy space to reflect upon the evidence, the promise, and the potential pitfalls of anticipatory action.