Process Learning Report: Anticipatory Action Framework for Tropical Cyclones in Fiji

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Fiji Anticipatory Action (AA) Framework for Tropical Cyclones marks a significant milestone in disaster risk governance in the Pacific. Designed between 2023 and 2025 through a collaborative effort led by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) and supported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Framework offers one of the region’s first nationally endorsed, trigger-based early action systems. While no activation occurred during the pilot phase, the process itself catalysed transformative change across institutional, operational, and coordination systems, proving that success in AA lies not only in activation but in the strength of the systems it builds.
The Framework was developed through an inclusive, two-tiered coordination model: a Technical Working Group (TWG) composed of humanitarian actors, and a multi-stakeholder forum convened by NDMO and relevant government ministries. Together, these bodies co-designed a harmonised set of pre-agreed actions, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and a cyclone trigger mechanism rooted in real-time forecasts and vulnerability data. The process was enabled by a USD 2.4 million pre-allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), and over USD 1 million in complementary co-financing by participating agencies.