It is necessary to have an on-ground impact and build local-led capacity to make a meaningful change. This is what I have done by going deeper into the field of Anticipatory Action: been on the field and interviewed beneficiaries along with other stakeholders to assess the challenges and improvements that can be made to their Anticipatory Action programs in Bangladesh. I have also authored a paper titled "Exploring implementation challenges of Heatwave Early Action Protocol in Dhaka, Bangladesh," which utilizes a method of multi-stakeholder interviews in 5 wards of Dhaka to identify challenges faced by each of the stakeholders in this program.
I was invited to attend the 1st South Asia Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action in September 2024 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This event brought together various stakeholders from Governments to multilateral organizations and NGOs working in this field to share inputs on how to institutionalize Anticipatory Action.
At this event, I participated in various workshops which ranged from topics like discussing enablers and barriers to National Anticipatory Action Frameworks and deliberating on how South Asian Countries' commitments feed into topline South Asian commitments on Anticipatory Action. These workshops were also very unique as they were art-based where participants had to express barriers, enablers, and their ambitions through Moonstones, a unique architectural feature of Sri Lanka. I also met various stakeholders from different organizations such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation, United Nations, IFRC, WFP, etc., and learnt about the work they were doing in this field.
All in all, participating in this event was a great experience. It highlighted the large steps taken in the sphere of Anticipatory Action in South Asia. It specifically emphasized the fact that South Asia is not new to Anticipatory Action.
