PHT Anticipatory Action Technical Working Group (PHT AA TWG)

Establishing government-led collective AA Frameworks in the Pacific Islands is expected to yield numerous benefits:

1. Timely Responses: Provides swift response to predictable climate-related disasters, reducing vulnerability.
2. Enhanced Coordination: Promotes cross-sector collaboration for comprehensive disaster planning, ensuring
   accountability and preparedness.
3. Capacity Building: Strengthens local knowledge and capabilities within communities and government structures.
4. Improved Oversight: Increases the NEMO and other coordinating entities’ capacity for oversight and control
   through a clear, pre-agreed action plan linked to broader humanitarian response strategies.
5. Access to Financing: Enhances access to disaster risk financing through pre-arranged programs.
6. Alignment with current climate mitigation policies: supports the government in meeting climate financing
   targets.

This report summarises the findings of a stakeholder workshop held on May 15, 2025, to review the Fiji Anticipatory Action (AA) Framework for Tropical Cyclones and determine recommendations for its next phase (November 2025 – May 2027). The initial pilot phase of the framework, guided by the Fiji National Disaster Risk Management Office (NDRMO) and the United Nations Resident Coordinator, concludes in May 2025. The Framework has been financed by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and United Nations (UN) agencies, achieving key milestones including endorsement by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator in November 2023 and the Republic of Fiji’s Cabinet in February 2024.

Early Warning Systems (EWS) are proven, effective, and feasible disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measures which save lives and provide a tenfold return on investment. To be effective, early warning systems must be accessible, inclusive and appropriate to the needs of people and communities. Despite advancements in science and technology, some communities remain hard to reach with timely and accurate warning messages. To address this challenge, the United Nations Secretary-General launched the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative to ensure that every person on Earth is protected from disasters through life-saving early warning systems by 2027. In the Pacific, the regionally led Weather Ready Pacific Programme is a key vehicle for delivery of the EW4ALL.

The Pacific Humanitarian Team (PHT) Anticipatory Action Technical Working Group (AA TWG) serves as a platform to coordinate, promote, and integrate anticipatory action across the disaster risk management and humanitarian cycles in the Pacific Island countries. Established under the PHT, the Working Group is dedicated to mainstream AA through a coordinated, inclusive, and people-centered approach, ensuring optimisation of resources and sustainability. The TWG will enable a paradigm shift from a reactive to a proactive approach ahead of predictable hazards. By providing a collaborative platform, it operationalizes anticipatory action by bridging early warning systems with pre-arranged financing and early actions, advocates for the systematic inclusion of anticipatory approaches in national and regional policies across the 14 Pacific Island countries and strengthens stakeholder capacity to localize these approaches effectively.