There is so much we can take with us: new ideas and new partners, concluded Nora Guerten (FAO) at the end of the event. Her colleagues in Johannesburg agreed. “Different actors have come together and we now have a joint understanding of where to go from here,” said Quraishia Merzouk (FAO). What she liked best, she added, was that the Global Dialogue Platform was now a major initiative to bring partners together, meaning new partnerships forming and the community growing. “Anticipatory action is finally really successful, that is obvious” confirmed Anna Lena Huhn (WFP). “The piloting is over!”
Urbe Secades (FAO), in the live studio in Rome, loved the inspiration provided by all these people, and Matthias Amling (GFFO) proved it with numbers: “More than 1,000 people came together - the platform is truly inclusive.”
Next, Gernot Laganda, WFP’s Director of Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Programmes, shared how he perceived the event: “There was so much positive collaboration! This is the goal: putting the issue first, and letting our institutional badges and baggage at the door. There have been many insights, lots of knowledge share and learnings. The system is at its breaking point, and we together have to think of new solutions, especially how the most vulnerable people can be protected. Their needs are the focus - the task is difficult, but it can be done.”
Meanwhile, Dominique Burgeon (FAO) was amazed by the energy: “You really felt the energy, with all these speakers from all over the world. Experience, lessons learnt; there was so much in these three days.” He also noted that talking about the barriers - and thoughts from ‘outside the box’ - were extremely helpful for everyone: “We talked about the challenges, but also about the many successes. Talk the talk and walk the walk - and that was done here, too!”
Alexandra Rüth (German Red Cross) agreed. “There is so much knowledge and inspiration in the virtual room, you hardly want to leave it.” She reiterated that this Global Dialogue Platform showed that anticipatory action is no longer a new idea, but an established, growing sector - but there is still a long way to go. Picking up on some of the themes from the event, she noted that conflict has been an important feature of these three days, along with the new tools being tested - many of them demonstrated at this event. “This helps to generate evidence - and this is vital for more countries to create more success.”
The poet Regie Gibson used the words collected during the previous day’s session, ‘When climate, conflict and migration collide - the role of anticipatory action’, which he had used to create a poem: “Roses are red, violets are blue - and I need more anticipatory actions and so do you!”
More serious lines followed this opening, however: about a woman having to flee; about a father with starving children. These stories are not made up; when climate disasters strike, things like this happen. “But they are not alone - because of you,” recited Regie Gibson. “You use your head and heart and hands to reduce crises and fighting, and to find new ways to save lives and the environment. Why? Because you don’t just stand around. When climate and conflict collide, it is the potential of the downfall of us all. But lucky for us there are these people like you - who know this rational and act before reaction. You know that it is possible to go somewhere before disasters happen. You dare to be inspired and take on the work of the community, to save human dignity. You are not alone!”
Last up on stage was Dunja Dujanovic, one of the first people to work on anticipatory action. At this ninth edition of the Global Dialogue Platform, she felt honored to see the success and still be part of it - and seeing it grow into something special.