Forecast-based Financing
The German Red Cross is intensively exploring how anticipatory humanitarian aid can be planned and implemented to better protect people before an impending disaster occurs.
A new approach
Anticipation instead of reaction – with Forecast-based Financing (FbF), the GRC and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement are redesigning humanitarian aid: greater efficiency and greater impact in the event of a disaster, thanks to the innovative use of climate and weather data in a global network.
The goal: to anticipate disasters, act early, and thus prevent human suffering. Based on forecasts and risk analyses, FbF provides funds whose use is determined in advance. To ensure that relief measures can be carried out quickly and efficiently in an emergency, funding is provided automatically and based on clear criteria when a certain threshold is reached.
An International Concept
Since 2014, the GRC has been working with partners such as the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and the IFRC on the FbF approach, which is extensively supported by the Federal Foreign Office. Over the past few years, FbF has evolved from individual pilot projects into a eligible international concept in humanitarian aid, implemented in numerous countries. In recent years many frameworks for anticipatory humanitarian aid have been developed.
The Anticipation Hub
FbF remains an approach that encourages, researches, and promotes the testing and implementation of innovative ideas. A key focus of the GRC's work in this area is the development and maintenance of a competence platform for anticipatory humanitarian aid and risk financing, the so-called "Anticipation Hub." The platform promotes professional exchange and mutual learning, even outside of conferences and workshops – for example, by providing best practice examples and offering learning and consulting services.
