CHAPTER THREE

Crisis Resilience

Humanitarian Response and Anticipatory Action

Sikandra Kurdi and Sandra Ruckstuhl

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Anticipatory action can deliver more effective humanitarian responses and support resilience building by preparing for crises in advance

The vast majority of humanitarian response is activated after a crisis occurs, delivering lifesaving aid, but at relatively high costs and in a framework that prioritizes short-term solutions over long-term resilience.
Better evidence can help align humanitarian aid delivery with medium- and long-term development strategies and with resilience building.
In the anticipatory action approach, costly delays and suffering can be avoided. Pre-allocating financial resources and preplanning responses to be activated when a trigger level is reached in a risk-monitoring system ensure efficient response to crises.
Beyond the narrow definition of anticipatory action as a preplanned emergency response, the broader conception of promoting resilience should guide policymakers in investing in long-term development goals even in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

To improve the impact of humanitarian response and anticipatory action, it is important to:

Increase data collection and analysis, including impact assessments, of humanitarian assistance and anticipatory action programs in different contexts, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
Develop anticipatory action frameworks that pre-identify vulnerabilities and funding triggers, ensure regular data collection for risk monitoring, define clear roles and responsibilities, and identify available financial resources before crises hit.
Assess the targeting of humanitarian assistance to identify what groups are being missed and ensure their inclusion.
Support interventions that reflect humanitarian–development–peace nexus, such as nutrition-sensitive programming, use of local procurement, support for local institutions, and transitioning aid toward more permanent safety nets.