Attachments
This report covers the period 1 January to 30 September 2011.
Programme outcome:
The 2011 disaster management programme is designed around the four disaster management (DM) strategic objectives of IRCS via disaster risk reduction – “Building safer communities”, national disaster preparedness and response mechanism, disaster preparedness and response capacity building of branches and inter- agency coordination.
The overall purpose of the health and care programme aligns with the Global Agenda goal 2, which is to improve the Indian Red Cross Society’s (IRCS) capacity in planning, to raise awareness on the preventive health needs and by responding to public health emergencies, including HIV/AIDS, through prevention, care and support by strengthening the Red Cross volunteer network.
The purpose of the organisation development programme is to improve capacity of IRCS to provide effective services to reduce suffering of the vulnerable by integrating it with DM, health and other programmes of the national society and working with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and partner national societies to achieve Global Agenda goal 3. IRCS is in the process of further strengthening the organisation and has geared up its efforts this year towards continuation and innovation. Finance system development and branch development at national and branch level respectively were integrated as a continuum of existing programmes. Youth development, capacity building in fundraising and branch development through integrated programme approach became new initiatives in 2011.
Programme(s) summary:
During the reporting period a new result has been added under the organisational preparedness component to support the deployment of national disaster response team and national water and sanitation disaster response team for assessment and relief work, replenishment of stocks and logistics support in response to monsoon related disasters.
Considerable progress has been made to achieve the IRCS’s four disaster management (DM) strategic objectives. The second phase of the Hong Kong branch of the Red Cross Society of China-supported disaster risk reduction (DRR) building safer communities project has commenced with a lessons learnt workshop reviewing activities carried out during the first phase. A stake holder orientation meeting to plan for the second phase was completed. A focus on strengthening of community livelihood activities, capacity building of self help groups, sustainability of community disaster management committees (CDMCs) (by identifying it as a social wing of Panchayat/Municipal Corporation) and the establishment of early warning systems at community level have been identified as new core activities. Involvement of communities and their commitments for the execution of the project has been overwhelming and very successful.
IRCS has constituted a DRR consortium to ensure necessary technical support for all the projects across India, and to promote knowledge sharing and standardisation of approaches. Partner national societies, ICRC, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and IRCS are part of this consortium. The next meeting of the DRR consortium took place in the first week of July 2011.
The national disaster response team refresher training was held in March 2011 and work continued in preparation for the national disaster water and sanitation response team training which took place in June 2011.
An initiative to launch e-learning programmes to reach many more staff and volunteers and build their capacities to enable them to respond in times of emergencies has been developed and will be integrated into the DM plans.
Considerable work has also been done on bridging the digital divide between IFRC and IRCS with the support of the Italian Red Cross. A multipurpose video conferencing facility has been inaugurated at the IRCS national headquarters which enables the national headquarters to have regular meetings with the state branch officials and project staffs. The facility is expected to facilitate quicker decision mechanisms during times of disaster, through regular video conferencing with the branches and warehouses.
The health and care programme of IRCS continued with the implementation of the India MDR-tuberculosis (TB) programme, malaria prevention and control programme. The Hong Kong branch of the Red Cross Society of China-funded HIV/AIDS and public health in emergencies (PHiE) programme is nearing completion by the end of June 2011. Two components of the HIV programme – the service, support and stigma (3S), the care and support initiative in Tambaram hospital in Chennai and the community care centre – crèche for HIV orphans and vulnerable children completed its successful implementation during the reporting period.
The India TB programme continued its successful implementation with more quality oriented activities. The extension of the TB project and increased coordination with the government’s Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) is demonstrated at all levels in the three states. A field review visit was conducted with the Asia Pacific zone health coordinator and South Asia regional health team in May to Punjab, one of the states covered by the programme where the success of the programme could be witnessed on firsthand.
Organisational development in IRCS this year focussed more to bring branch development in all aspects related to foundation, capacity and performance stages. The focus on having a strong legal base at the branch levels were ensured by the enforcement of the uniform branch rules for the IRCS state branches. Humanitarian values and awareness on the Red Cross Movement was integrated and became instrumental as an important component of all programme related capacity building trainings.
Financial situation: The appeal budget is CHF 2,334,983 (USD 2,634,500 or EUR 1,936,890). Appeal coverage is 86 per cent. Expenditure from January to July was 21 per cent. During the reporting period, the budget has been modified to include the support to IRCS monsoon disaster response operation. Currently, the funding gap in the disaster management programme is CHF 426,000, which is 34 per cent of the total disaster management budget of CHF 1,584,632.
No. of people reached: It is expected that 822,550 people will be reached through the DM, health and care, and organisation development programme 2011 activities.
Our partners: Contributors to this appeal include British Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Hong Kong branch of the Red Cross Society of China, Italian Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Netherlands Red Cross, Singapore Red Cross and IFRC New York office.
Also contributing to the work of the national society on a bilateral basis are American Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, German Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National AIDS Control Organization of India, UN agencies, OPECfunds, Money Gram, World Health Organization and USAID are the main partners of the IRCS outside the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
On behalf of the Indian Red Cross Society, the International Federation would like to thank all partners and contributors for their response to this appeal.