Response Preparedness 2022-2026: Technical Support on data and digital This project covers the technical support provided by the Netherlands Red Cross 510 data team ("510") to National Societies on Early Action Mechanisms and Cash and Voucher Assistance, under the Netherlands Red Cross Response Preparedness 2022-2026 programme. 510 will work hand in hand with the staff from Red Cross implementing National Societies of Zambia and Mali, and where needed also in South Sudan, Ivory Coast and Central African Republic, to set up and improve their work on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action and Cash and Voucher Assistance. Focus is on the data and digital work, the expertise of 510. Anticipatory action refers to actions taken before a crisis hits to prevent or reduce potential disaster impacts prior to a shock or before acute impacts are felt. The actions are carried out based on forecasts or predictions of how the event will unfold. The types of actions are varied and depend on the hazard and context and can range from evacuation, the reinforcement of homes and the distribution of health protection kits to mobile cooling centres and cash distribution. Implementing anticipatory action requires developing pre-agreed action plans for response, setting out what early actions will be taken, based on what triggers, and tying that to pre-agreed and reliable financial resources.
This is important because the frequency and severity of extreme weather events have increased and will continue to do so. The number of disasters such as floods, storms and heatwaves, has been increasing since the 1960s and has risen almost 35% since the 1990s. The impacts of these disasters can include deaths, large-scale forced displacement, food insecurity, disease outbreaks, and loss of livelihoods. The World Bank estimates that upgrading early warning and early action capacity in all developing countries could save some 23,000 lives and avert the destruction of between US$300 million and $2 billion in assets every year. Anticipatory action is a no-regrets approach: it can reduce the burden of emergency response and
make it more effective, even if the crisis doesn’t turn into an extreme event.

Giving cash to people affected by disasters is an effective, efficient and transparent way of providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable. It ensures people have the freedom, dignity and independence to decide on their own recovery. National Societies are increasingly using Cash Voucher Assistance (CVA) to provide aid to people in need effectively and efficiently. The IFRC has committed to delivering cash and vouchers in 50% of humanitarian assistance by 2025. Cash projects request a large amount of data: registration, data sharing with Financial Service Providers (FSPs), Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM), Community Engagement (CEA), Project evaluations and reporting, etc. This means that the NS has to collect, analyze, clean, securely store, visualize, manage and share an increasing amount of data. To be able to deliver CVA rapidly and at scale in any response, 510 work togethers on developing the NSs skills and capacity, advise on which devices and software to use, engage large groups of beneficiaries digitally and make reporting easy for internal and external stakeholders. 510 does this in line with the IFRC CVA Preparedness framework. 510 will provide technical support to Red Cross implementing National Societies of the Netherlands Red Cross Response Preparedness 2022-2026 programme. Furthermore it will coordinate and support on global level tools development and learning. Among the activities supported are:
- Alignment on global tooling with IFRC and other National Societies
- Developing and improving trigger methodologies for hazards
- Dissemination of best practices in impact-based Forecasting and Cash Information Management 
- Improving the 510-led Impact-based Forecasting platform
- Implementation support of Impact-based Forecasting platform and of Cash Information Management to National Societies
- Coordination with IFRC (Cash IM working group, support the improvement of cash IM materials)
- Technical project coordination The direct beneficiaries of this project are the National Societies that are part of the Response Preparedness 2022-2026 programme, as their capacities will be strengthened thanks to the technical support provided by 510. Indirectly and at a later stage, the beneficiaries are those populations who are vulnerable to the effects of climate related and other hazards, who are aimed to be reached with (anticipatory) humanitarian action, including through the modality of CVA. Mali and Zambia, potentially added by South Sudan, Ivory Coast and/or Central African Republic, as well as global.