Local Leadership, Global Solidarity: Anticipatory Action IFRC

The report argues that the shift toward locally led anticipatory action is constrained more by political factors and donor risk tolerance than by technical capacity. It identifies five core challenges: centralized design and decision-making, a lack of devolved funding and trust, a 'burden of proof' regarding evidence, the privileging of formal science over local and Indigenous knowledge, and persistent institutional hierarchies. The document suggests that for the IFRC to scale these actions beyond 2025, it must reconcile the need for global standardization with local autonomy and reform financing and governance to empower local actors.

• Progress toward locally led anticipatory action is limited primarily by political factors rather than technical capacity, as local leadership remains externally controlled and narrowly defined due to donor priorities regarding accountability, efficiency, and scalability.
• There is a tension between the IFRC's need for global simplicity, standardization, and coordination and the desire for local autonomy and diversity in implementation.
• Funding for anticipatory action is hindered by a reluctance to devolve discretion and a centralized control of resources, such as the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF), despite the availability of money.
• A 'burden of proof' exists where donors demand evidence of the effectiveness of locally led action before providing support, which creates a cycle of dependency and slows reform.
• Operational effectiveness is limited by a hierarchy that prioritizes formal, model-based forecasting over experiential, community, and Indigenous knowledge.
• Institutional hierarchies within the IFRC and national governments often prevent decision-making power and finance from reaching the municipal or community levels where implementation actually occurs.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). Local Leadership, Global Solidarity: Anticipatory Action IFRC. https://www.sei.org/publications/local-leadership-global-solidarity-anticipatory-action-ifrc/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Local Leadership, Global Solidarity: Anticipatory Action IFRC. 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/local-leadership-global-solidarity-anticipatory-action-ifrc/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Local Leadership, Global Solidarity: Anticipatory Action IFRC |date=21 November 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/local-leadership-global-solidarity-anticipatory-action-ifrc/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025local, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Local Leadership, Global Solidarity: Anticipatory Action IFRC}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/local-leadership-global-solidarity-anticipatory-action-ifrc/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }