Diaspora in Anticipatory Action: the Missing Link

Executive summary

This Guidance Note explores the role of diaspora actors in anticipatory action (AA) and provides practical considerations for humanitarian and development practitioners seeking to engage diaspora communities across AA systems and processes. The note aims to contribute to broader discussions on locally led and inclusive anticipatory action by highlighting opportunities, challenges and emerging practices related to diaspora engagement.

While the note is relevant to AA more broadly, it draws extensively on learning generated through DRC's Anticipatory Humanitarian Action for Displacement (AHEAD) project. AHEAD is a multi-country initiative operating across eight countries that seeks to strengthen anticipatory action for conflict-induced displacement through forecasting, community-based early warning systems and anticipatory interventions that help communities prepare for and mitigate displacement risks before they escalate. The inclusion of local actors, diaspora and hard-to-reach populations in AA is an explicit learning outcome of the project, providing scope for testing new modalities and practices. Somalia has been selected as the first operational context given its strong global diaspora network, fit with DRC programming and priorities, and strong diaspora partner capacities across target locations.  

This note shares what we are learning along the way. Rather than a tested model, it offers insights from our emerging practice and early learning on how diaspora actors and local actors could take part in AA alongside established AA actors – in early warning, financing and action – as actors in their own right. As such, it is intended to support country teams and practitioners in unpacking what this could look like in practice, from context monitoring to AAP design and implementation.