The Fine Line between Rural-Urban Anticipation Contexts
Building on previous exchanges on urban FbF at the Southern Africa Dialogue Platform, the session explored what the challenges are in implementing anticipatory action in the rapidly urbanizing context of sub-Saharan Africa.
Sheikh Khairul Rahaman, FbF Project Delegate at German Red Cross, described the complex web of stakeholders on the Bangladesh anticipation scene, their coordination and coalition strategy, and fascinatingly, how this is being practically implemented. Despite challenges, such as differences in understanding the FbF approach and differing mandates, it appears to be a case of good old getting together and communicating at all levels!
The central role of the communities was highlighted by Júlio Armando Mondlane, Mozambique Red Cross, Operations Manager and PMER National Coordinator, as the base for any action. Putting communities at the center and applying the CEA approach is crucial in understanding the situation and identifying vulnerabilities and capacities.
Dr. Hassan Ahmadul, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Senior Advisor, reflects on trigger development in urban contexts (heatwave for Dhaka City, Bangladesh), its challenges and recommendations. In Dhaka it has proven to be very difficult to fix the threshold for extreme events and impact level, which are highly complex, unpredictable and dynamic and called for greater support from anticipation dialogue platform experts!