National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is hosting two day the 2nd National Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action at NDMA Headquarters, Islamabad from 11–12 May 2026 under the National Coordination Forum on Anticipatory Action. The 2nd National Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action is being organized in collaboration with World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Welthungerhilfe (WHH), Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Chairman NDMA,
Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, HI(M), welcomed all participants and underscored the importance of Standard Disaster Risk Reduction Standard and Trigger-based Anticipatory Actions to build disaster resilience regime in Pakistan under NDMA’s Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy (NDRRS) 2025-2030. He emphasized that Anticipatory Actions need to be activated to reduce disaster risks and minimize humanitarian and economic losses. He highlighted that timely preparedness, early warning dissemination, and coordinated institutional response are essential to protecting vulnerable communities from the increasing impacts of climate-induced hazards. He further reiterated NDMA’s commitment to strengthening a proactive and resilient disaster management framework in Pakistan.
During the opening session of the Dialogue Platform, Country Director WFP Ms. Coco Ushiyama, Head of Pakistan Office, German Red Cross, and representative PRCS, Mr. Asif Aman Khan, Ms. Leonor Fernandez, Deputy Country Representative, Food and Agriculture Organization Pakistan, and Ms. Isabel Bogorinsky, Deputy Country Director, Welthungerhilfe Pakistan, shared their thoughts highlighting the importance of strengthening collaborative approaches towards anticipatory action, enhancing preparedness mechanisms, and promoting coordinated efforts to reduce the impacts of climate-induced disasters and humanitarian emergencies in Pakistan.
The forum also marked the soft launch of Pakistan’s National Anticipatory Action (AA) Strategy, which seeks to provide a comprehensive national framework for strengthening forecast-based early action, institutional coordination, and resilience-building against climate-induced hazards and disasters.
Anticipatory action enables timely interventions based on scientific forecasts and risk analysis, helping reduce humanitarian and economic impacts before disasters occur. With climate-induced hazards including floods, heatwaves, droughts, and disease outbreaks becoming increasingly frequent and intense, strengthening anticipatory systems has emerged as a national priority.
The dialogue platform provides an opportunity for stakeholders to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and review lessons learned from previous anticipatory action initiatives. Discussions are focused on improving coordination mechanisms, harmonizing sectoral approaches, and institutionalizing anticipatory action within Pakistan’s disaster risk management framework.
The platform further emphasizes integration of anticipatory action into national and provincial planning processes, while exploring sustainable financing mechanisms including public funding and climate finance. Through expert sessions, participatory discussions, and collaborative workshops, the dialogue is expected to contribute towards development of a national roadmap for embedding anticipatory action into Pakistan’s disaster management systems.
The two-day national dialogue has brought together around 200 participants representing government institutions, UN agencies, humanitarian and development organizations, international financial institutions, academia, private sector, meteorological and climate experts, and community representatives.
The platform reflects Pakistan’s collective commitment to strengthening disaster resilience by shifting focus from reactive disaster response to proactive and anticipatory action.
