Executive Summary
There is nothing natural about a disaster: extreme weather events do not inevitably lead to catastrophe and people do not inevitably need to die or suffer. We can save countless lives and reduce suffering if we use forecasts and act before a disaster. If we evacuate people before a flood, we do not need to rescue them and support them afterward. If we help farmers find alternative livelihood paths, they will not need food aid when the harvest fails.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent know that with the right information, support, and science-based resourcing—such as forecast-based financing—communities can and will adopt early actions to protect themselves. Our project will significantly expand the number of communities able to achieve that protection.
Every year, natural hazards affect about 200 million people, kill 67,000 people, and drive 26 million people into poverty. Together, by using anticipatory actions, we can prevent this from happening.
Lead Organization
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
website: https://media.ifrc.org/ifrcCharity, fund, non-governmental organization, religious institution, school, or other entity
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Accomplishments
Despite COVID-19, previous efforts to introduce the anticipatory action approach in new countries paid off. Based on forecasts of extreme weather, Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in Mongolia, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Ecuador were able to implement preventive action to reduce the impacts of extreme winter, floods, cyclones, and volcanic ashfall. A total of 80,000 people were supported in 2020 to act early to protect themselves and their livelihoods.
In addition, the Red Cross and Red Crescent’s experience in Bangladesh was used as a basis for the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to fund one of the first, multi-stakeholder anticipatory action pilots. The result was a 10-fold increase in reach: up to 274,000 people in 2020 from 27,900 people in 2019. Lastly, in 2020, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, the German Red Cross, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre launched the Anticipation Hub, a knowledge and exchange platform to support the scale-up of anticipatory action worldwide.
