Call for session proposals for the 5th Africa Dialogue Platform

The 5th Africa Dialogue Platform, which will take place 28-30 June 2022, will comprise a mix of face-to-face meetings in Nairobi with online sessions. During the event, there will be 12 slots available for 60-minute parallel sessions, which will be held face-to-face in Nairobi (6) and online (6). If you are interested in hosting a parallel session, please submit your session proposal using this link. Please send your proposal as soon as possible, but no later than 31 May 2022. We will let you know if your session is selected or not. 

Themes

The overarching theme for the 5th Africa Dialogue Platform is ‘From dialogue to action: advancing joint goals towards Africa’s anticipatory action roadmap’ and we welcome session proposals relevant to any of the themes highlighted in the concept note. In addition, we welcome proposals related to the following themes. 

• Future leaders: empowering the next generation of collaborators across science, policy and practice
• Partnerships to co-produce knowledge on anticipatory action in Africa 
• Community voices: experience and expertise from those affected by hazards and disasters
• Emerging themes and hidden issues: what are we not talking about?

Formats

We welcome proposals in various interactive forms. These can include – but are not limited to – panel discussions, workshops, fishbowl conversations, skills training and collaborative brainstorming. You will need to indicate clearly if your proposed session will be held online (virtually) or at the venue (Nairobi). Please note that: 

• due to limited space, we can only guarantee places for two speakers for in-person sessions
• additional spaces will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis
• all travel costs must be borne by the individual or their organizations
• there is no entrance fee for the event.

Language

The main language of the Africa Dialogue Platform is English. If you plan to organize a session in a different language, please explain how you will ensure everyone can participate. We aim to support translation services into French, but unfortunately we cannot guarantee this for all parallel sessions.

Selection criteria

Please note the following requirements when submitting your session proposal.

• Each organization can only be listed as the lead for one session, although it is possible to be a co-organizer in further sessions. 
• Each proposal must include a 200-word (minimum) summary of the main themes and expected outcomes. These will be used to prepare the official report for the event.

We will assess each proposal based on:

• how well it integrates community voices, diverse groups and perspectives that are often overlooked
• its links to anticipatory action and the themes for this event
• the diversity of the speakers, in terms of regional representation, age, gender, etc.
• its inclusion of perspectives from different stakeholder levels (regional, national, subnational) and groups (academia, government, private sector, etc.)
• its use of creative approaches that engage participants and enable them to actively contribute in a meaningful way - especially for online sessions.

We aim to include as many different themes, speakers and organizations as possible in the agenda. If your session proposal is similar to another one, we may ask you to host your session jointly with another speaker/organization.

The Anticipation Hub is an initiative of the German Red Cross, the IFRC and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. The dialogue platforms are supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.