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A High-level Humanitarian Event on Anticipatory Action, convened by OCHA and the Governments of Germany and the UK, took place on 9 September 2021. This brought together leaders from across governments, international financial institutions, the United Nations (UN) and civil society, who delivered powerful statements on their commitments to act to ahead of crises. Here, Sarah Klassen, Ben Webster, Jânio Dambo, and LA Dimailig offer their personal reflections on what this event achieved – and what should happen next.

The Anticipatory Action Task Force (AATF) brings together the key agencies implementing anticipatory action on the ground. The AATF draws on a wealth of experience from implementing anticipatory action initiatives in over 60 countries. The mission of the AATF is to promote the use of anticipatory humanitarian action to risks1 . The taskforce also supports evidence-based policies that make anticipatory action possible.

Acting prior to a predictable hazard in order to safeguard lives and livelihoods, to reduce human suffering and losses and damages, is a faster, more efficient and more dignified response.

This document includes a summary of key anticipatory action policy asks developed by Start Network. This can be used by the Start Network team, Start Network members and partners. Messages will be updated regularly as new evidence emerges from our programmes.

Start Network has launched Information is Power: Connecting Local Responders to the Risk Information that they Need, a paper which calls for organisations to connect people at risk of crises with forecast information, which can help to save lives, cut the costs of emergency response, and build more resilient communities.

The humanitarian impact of extreme heat is an increasing concern, especially in low-income countries with limited access to quality healthcare and informal dwellings which can trap heat. This report analyses the knowledge, attitude and practice of Karachi residents in relation to managing extreme heat. It was conducted in 2020 following a messaging campaign led by HANDS related to extreme heat. The project was triggered through a disaster risk financing approach, using a heatwave model to trigger funding automatically when extreme heat was forecast.

Start Network is working to provide more effective and efficient financing models for humanitarian aid. Specifically, to enable a predictable continuum of funding for when risks of different scale and severity start to materialise. This report, commissioned from the UK Government Actuary Department, provides technical advice around the funding of the Start Financing Facility (SFF). In particular, by providing a theoretical illustration of the financial implications of pooling a number of risks into a central risk pool. The paper investigates how the number, frequency and size of the risks will affect the demands on the central risk pool, and highlights options for the financial management of the pool.

Start Network’s first virtual Assembly meeting took take place from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October 2020, alongside our 10-year anniversary celebrations. At the Assembly, we updated members on the development progress of Start Financing Facility.

A new series of technical discussion papers by the Start Network, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies explores how evolving disaster risk financing (DRF) approaches could be a game changer in acting earlier, quicker and more effectively to predictable humanitarian crises. The papers are attempting to redefine how DRF meets humanitarian objectives. Building on the practical experience of the Start Network and IFRC the papers call for a move from the traditional DRF sovereign approach to a more human-impact driven approach to risk financing, identifying the financial and operational needs from the ground up; an ‘impact before instruments approach. Each paper explores the need for such a renewed approach whilst identifying some of the technical challenges and posing solutions to make disaster risk financing work most effectively in the humanitarian context. The aim is to ignite dialogue and build collaboration around key technical challenges whilst highlighting some key solutions to unlock the potential of DRF for humanitarian action.

Most disasters are not unpredictable, but treating them as such leads to critical opportunities to save lives and build long term resilience being missed.