Sergio underscored some issues around Early Warning Early Action (EWEA), information systems, triggers and thresholds for action, reaching the last mile to ensure that we facilitate EA at the community level, and M&E by governments and donors.

Brenda Lazarus highlighted FAO´s recent East Africa regional study looking into EWEA challenges/opportunities: despite plenty of information, frequently there's a sense of confusion about what the information means or what to do about it, and it has no strong link to EA. She thinks we should organise contingency planning scale-up with a set of commonly agreed upon steps/systems for anticipatory action, similar to emergency response planning, to act more effectively when EW signals that action is needed.

Luca said that we are technically ready at project level but that the humanitarian programming at country level including EWEA is still a challenge. He further stressed the need for an overall risk management package particularly in contexts with protracted crises where EWEA is a component.

Godfrey elaborated that the Early Warning team at FEWSNET has worked hard on food security outcomes, by expanding EW projections up to eight months in advance of the crisis, it gives policy makers sufficient time to prepare and to act; particularly useful in contexts like South Sudan, Somalia and Madagascar.

Abdi Jama stressed that despite all technical advances and availability of mobile phones, shortcomings remain with regards to reaching communities in remote and rural areas.
Dauda concluded with Nigeria´s experiences, where reaching the last mile was found to be intricate in huge populations. Matters like availability, accessibility and attainability of programmes, are important for ensuring that vulnerable communities are adequately reached.