Anticipatory Action for Nutrition in Yemen and South Sudan: Putting Local Actors at the Centre

GNC-led efforts to strengthen national systems, coordination, and local leadership

As climate-related shocks – including extreme weather events, conflict, and disease outbreaks – continue to drive humanitarian needs, Anticipatory Action (AA) is increasingly recognised as a critical approach to prevent deterioration in nutritional status before crises escalate. Acting ahead of predictable shocks can help prevent spikes in acute malnutrition and protect the most vulnerable groups, particularly children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Despite this potential, nutrition remains insufficiently integrated into AA systems, largely due to coordination gaps, limited capacity, weak data systems, and insufficient local ownership. In the context of the Humanitarian Reset’s call for more locally driven, risk-informed, and prevention-focused responses, stronger integration of nutrition into AA – from risk analysis and early warning to response design and activation – is essential.

A joint initiative across four countries

In 2025, Action Contre la Faim (ACF) France and the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC), with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and Irish Aid, launched a multi-country initiative across Mali, Madagascar, South Sudan, and Yemen to strengthen nutrition within AA systems. While ACF France focused on community-national linkages in Mali and Madagascar, the GNC led efforts in Yemen and South Sudan, emphasising national systems, coordination, and active participation of local and national actors (LNAs).

This Lessons Learned Brief captures lessons from the joint ACF France-GNC initiative across four countries.

Strengthening locally led anticipatory action for nutrition in Yemen and South Sudan

The GNC implemented the project ‘Enhancing the Involvement and Leadership of Local and National Nutrition Actors in Anticipatory Action – Data, Design and Implementation’ to strengthen the technical quality and leadership of locally driven, data-informed AA in two high-severity contexts: Yemen and South Sudan. The project supported national actors to strengthen the use of nutrition information for AA, while contributing to the development of country-specific roadmaps and recommendations to guide implementation – and building capacity in an emerging area for many actors.

Aligned with the GNC Localisation Roadmap and the GNC Strategy 2026-2029, which prioritise strengthening localisation and the leadership of LNAs, these actors were central to the project’s design and implementation. They were engaged across all phases – from initial key informant interviews that shaped priorities and entry points, to co-developing outputs and participating in global learning events. In total, 311 people were reached (71 women and 240 men).

The project design incorporated budget flexibility to enable meaningful participation of LNAs, including support for logistical costs – such as enabling the participation of female government representatives in South Sudan – and for interpretation and translation services in Yemen.

The project was coordinated through the Nutrition Clusters in Yemen and South Sudan, with cluster coordination teams actively involved in both design and delivery. They co-facilitated SMART (Standardised Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions) trainings and Real-Time Monitoring Framework (RMF) and AA roadmap workshops, including the Nutrition Anticipatory Action Workshop in Yemen, which brought together government, UN agencies, NGOs, and local actors to strengthen understanding of AA for nutrition through hands-on training and co-development of practical tools and recommendations.

Collaboration with government counterparts was also central. In Yemen, contributions came from health, planning, food security, agriculture, and meteorological services. In South Sudan, ministries of health, humanitarian affairs, and disaster management provided guidance on the Locally Led Anticipatory Action for Nutrition Recommendations, ensuring alignment with the National Anticipatory Action Roadmap.

Key outputs included:

• The Yemen Anticipatory Action for Nutrition Roadmap.
• The South Sudan Anticipatory Action for Nutrition Recommendations and its Executive Summary.
• A synthesis case study exploring how localisation principles were applied throughout the project.

The project focused on four key areas:

1. Strengthening data and analytical capacity – Through SMART survey trainings for government and partner staff, participants strengthened their capacity to design surveys, ensure data quality, and apply findings for decision-making and AA readiness.

2. Building foundations for real-time monitoring – Initial steps supported the development of a Real-Time Monitoring Framework (RMF) for nutrition. In South Sudan, priority indicators were mapped and data sources identified, while in Yemen, existing RMF processes were reviewed and updated to align with ongoing AA efforts.

3. Advancing leadership and ownership – LNAs co-developed AA roadmaps aligned with national priorities and systems, strengthening their role in decision-making and coordination.

4. Developing tools and global learning – Teams developed practical tools and training resources, and they shared experiences in a global webinar in January 2026, strengthening both national practice and global knowledge exchange.

As Dr. Abdulnasser Dahwa, GNC Anticipatory Action and Nutrition Technical Advisor in Yemen, noted: 

“Locally led Anticipatory Action means placing local and national actors at the centre of decision-making, design, implementation, and coordination, and ensuring strong local ownership to enable timely and sustainable action.”

Strengthening systems and localisation in practice

In Yemen and South Sudan, AA for nutrition was most effective when national leadership, strong data systems, and coordinated structures worked in alignment.

The initiative laid the groundwork for integrating nutrition into key components of Anticipatory Action systems, including risk analysis, early warning, trigger mechanisms, and pre-defined response packages – areas where nutrition is often underrepresented. Coordination between government institutions, clusters, and partners helped clarify roles and reinforced the positioning of nutrition clusters within national AA frameworks.

Cross-sector collaboration was key. In Yemen, partnerships with the Health, Food Security, Protection, and Shelter Clusters ensured multi-sectoral engagement. In South Sudan, the WASH and Health Clusters were engaged from the outset, strengthening joint planning and coordination. Collaboration with OCHA further reinforced implementation in both contexts, linking AA efforts to broader humanitarian planning frameworks.

Global learning and coordination

At global level, oversight came from the Nutrition and Anticipatory Action Taskforce, the GNC Anti-racism and Localisation Working Group, and the Nutrition Information Systems Working Group. The Taskforce, established in July 2025, is advancing the global nutrition and AA agenda by strengthening coordination and coherence.

The project also engaged with a range of analytical frameworks and platforms, including the Modelling Early Risk Indicators to Anticipate Malnutrition (MERIAM) initiative, the Nutrition Vulnerability Assessment in Crisis approach, the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, and the Joint Intersectoral Analysis Framework (JIAF). Although full integration was not achieved, the initiative identified entry points to strengthen interoperability with the Real-Time Monitoring Framework, including better use of nutrition indicators, support for IPC processes, and improved data sharing.

Future work should focus on deepening these linkages to improve coherence across analytical systems, enable joint interpretation of nutrition and risk data, and reduce duplication of efforts.

Moving forward

The GNC-led initiative in Yemen and South Sudan shows that strengthening Anticipatory Action for Nutrition requires a system-wide approach: integrating nutrition into national frameworks while investing in data systems, coordination, and the leadership of LNAs.

The project laid important foundations: stronger analytical capacity, improved coordination, and nationally owned roadmaps. These demonstrate that locally led, data-driven AA for nutrition is both feasible and necessary. It also closed a critical gap in multisectoral AA frameworks by addressing the needs of nutritionally at-risk groups, including children under five and pregnant or breastfeeding women.

However, progress is still at an early stage. Priorities include operationalising real-time monitoring, strengthening links with analytical frameworks, and embedding nutrition consistently in triggers and response planning.

Sustaining and scaling progress will require a shift from short-term project support to longer-term institutional investment. Localisation must be embedded in AA design, shaping decision-making, resourcing, and accountability, rather than treated as a separate objective.