GEO-REAP joint session at Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks 2026
You are warmly invited to join the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks (HNPW) 2026 session organised by GEO in collaboration with the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP), titled Earth Intelligence for Humanitarian Action: GEO Solutions for Early Warning, Crisis Response, and Community Resilience.
The session will showcase how Earth observations and Earth Intelligence solutions from across the GEO Work Programme directly support humanitarian and early action decision-making, including within global initiatives such as Early Warnings for All (EW4All).
Through a moderated panel, expert speakers will explore which decisions are already supported by Earth observation, where bottlenecks remain, and what needs to change over the next two to three years to accelerate impact.
Date: Tuesday 10 March
Time: 4-5.30pm CET
Format: Hybrid
Link to live stream: coming soon
Place: Salle Nyon at Centre International de Conférences Genève ground floor
Draft programme
16:00–16:05
Welcome and introduction
GEO Secretariat Director Yana Gevorgyan introduces GEO as a member of REAP and outlines the session’s focus.
16:05–16:12
Opening context: Earth observations for humanitarian decision-making
Ronald Jackson, Head of DRR at UNDP (in recorded video), as an applied Earth observation user or partner organisation, will provide a short framing input, highlighting how Earth observation and Earth Intelligence support humanitarian action, anticipatory action, early warning, crisis mapping, post disaster needs assessment and other critical humanitarian functions.
16:12–16:50
Expert panel discussion
Moderator opens with one framing question, followed by 3 thematic rounds of discussions (10 min each):
- What decisions does EO already support today?
- What prevents EO from being used earlier or at scale?
- What needs to change in the next 2–3 years?
Moderator: Catalina Jaime, Head of REAP Secretariat
Panelists:
- John Harding, Interim Secretariat Director, the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiativet
- Luke Caley, Information Management Lead at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
- Vanessa Gray, Head, Emergency Telecommunications and Environment Division, BDT, ITU (TBC)
- Makabe Ester, Project Coordinator, GEO Global Agriculture Monitoring (GEOGLAM)
• Martyn Clark, Urban Coordinator, GEO Secretariat
16:50–17:10
Audience Q&A (hybrid)
The Q&A will actively engage both in-person and online participants.
17:10–17:20
GEO activity highlights: Tools and collaboration opportunities
A rapid series of 1-minute highlights from relevant GEO Work Programme activities, focusing on access pathways, supported by QR codes to GEO tools and platforms.
- GEOGLAM
- Human Planet Initiative
- Global Heat Resilience Service
- Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories
- Earth Observations for Disaster Risk Management
17:20–17:30
Concluding reflections and next steps
The moderator summarises discussion highlights and reflects on opportunities emerging from the session.