On January 20, 2022, Maggie Schmitz, the acting division chief for private sector engagement, diaspora, and innovation in USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin. In the interview, Tom and Maggie discuss the Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action (“4As partnership”).

The 4As program has two tracks: One is looking at the benefits of anticipatory action. The Consortium is on “standby” to support evaluations whenever a humanitarian partner takes Anticipatory Action. When an event occurs, the regional lead university will collaborate with the humanitarian partner to design and implement an impact evaluation after the event. The second is looking at how anticipatory action can be improved. Each university partner will lead research on an aspect of Anticipatory Action, answering critical questions that enable humanitarians to scale up and improve effectiveness of their work.

The 4As partnership is a consortium of seven universities around the world. It’s headed by Erin Coughlan de Perez at the Feinstein International Center and includes Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Makerere University in Uganda, National University of Lesotho, Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, University of Namibia, and University of the Philippines.

Read the transcript or listen to the interview to learn more about the 4As partnership and the work that is already happening since the program started in December 2021.