Ministry of Equity and WFP Advance Saint Lucia’s Anticipatory Action System

The Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening Saint Lucia’s Anticipatory Action (AA) mechanism following a stakeholder meeting held to review the findings of the nation’s first full-scale simulation exercise.

The meeting, hosted at the Ministry’s conference room on October 16, 2025, brought together representatives from the WFP, the Accountant General’s Department, the Saint Lucia Meteorological Service, and Massy Stores as a key private sector partner. Discussions focused on lessons from the May 2025 Simulation exercise, which tested the delivery of early assistance to vulnerable households ahead of a hurricane. The exercise was designed to test the readiness of national systems and partners to deliver assistance before a hurricane makes landfall.

Saint Lucia’s Anticipatory Action mechanism, the first of its kind in the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, enables the pre-emptive delivery of assistance to about 2,000 pre-identified households, when a Category 1 hurricane or stronger is forecasted. The system uses a two-stage trigger based on five-day and three-day forecasts, to activate the early release of funds in cash or food vouchers.