Bridging the gaps in disaster loss data to support early warning and early action in Southern Africa

This report outlines current gaps and key policy options available to bridge the gap between available disaster loss data and what is needed to translate them into anticipatory action. Disaster risk managers use impact data for multiple purposes, but until recently there has been little focus on the usefulness of impact data for anticipatory action.

Anticipatory action is a relatively new and rapidly expanding approach to humanitarian financing which seeks to mitigate the impact of extreme events by allowing governmental and humanitarian organizations to act before extreme events occur. An analysis of existing impact data ecosystems in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia has revealed that several challenges currently limit the countries’ ability to systematically collect, validate, store, and share impact data, thereby reducing the usefulness of existing data for anticipatory action. This report also provides recommendations toward better impact data.