ReliefWeb

The Federation’s mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in 178 countries. For more information: www.ifrc.org
Appeal Target: CHF 11,288,007
Beneficiaries/target groups (if available): N/A
Period covered: 1 April - 30 September, 2002; Last Programme Update (no.1) issued 5 June 2002

IN BRIEF

Appeal coverage: 134.9%

Related Appeals: N/A

Outstanding needs: None

Operational Developments

The Federation still contributes to further development of disaster response and preparedness capacities of Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) in order to improve the quality of its emergency disaster response service delivery. The facilitation role of the delegation also continues to support the long-term change process of TRCS particularly in the areas of strategic development, capacity building, and coordination with partners.

There have been certain modifications introduced in the Community Centre Programme. A new programme design has been developed, which is expected to be consistent with the original model and the integrated approaches with disaster preparedness and branch development.

The National Earthquake Council released a report about preparedness issues in Turkey in mid-May. The Council stated that Istanbul is not ready for an earthquake while the risk of a probable earthquake in Istanbul is 60 percent. The Council also noted that a supra-political mobilization has to be declared in the country and measures have to be taken. The Council completed its report on the national strategy aiming to decrease the harms of quake disasters.

It appears that Turkey should immediately implement a National Plan of Action in order to be prepared for probable disasters. In view of this the Federation, TRCS and the participated national societies together with the appropriate authorities and institutions, are involved in dealing with contingency planning activities. In the meantime the disaster awareness information and First Aid knowledge are continuously spread among the public through trainings and published materials.

Disaster Response

The Federation Construction department pursued the ongoing projects according to the appeal goals and finalized the constructions of Samat Primary School and Duzce State Hospital.

The 1000 m2 new construction of Korfez State hospital has been delayed according to the new specifications requested by Ministry of Health. Although the timing and the budgeting have been strained with this request, the construction works follow a positive progress.

The 7200 m2 construction project of Yalova Mental Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre construction has started. The completion of the centre is estimated for mid 2003.

Concerning the German Red Cross’s construction project for TRCS Golcuk Branch, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on 15th of April and the construction works are in progress. Upon request from German Red Cross an MoU was signed with the Federation regarding the construction of TRCS branch building in Duzce. The parties agreed on the following: German Red Cross will be providing funding for the project and Federation will take responsibility for the construction of the building. At the same time the Federation, as part of its psycho-social programme, is constructing a community centre building. This, together with the branch building, once the works have been completed, will provide space for various activities of the branch. The project, apart from providing the necessary infrastructure for TRCS branch activities is also a good example of collaboration and coordination between PNS, Federation and National Society in achieving a common goal. The construction work is in progress and expected to be concluded in December. The transfer of ownership to TRSC is currently in focus.

While addressing the long-term needs of earthquake victims by constructing seismically resistant schools and hospitals, the Federation Construction department also raises awareness and exchanges information with the appropriate authorities and institutions regarding safe construction techniques.

Disaster Preparedness

The Federation Disaster Preparedness department focused on capacity building of the TRCS in the field of disaster preparedness and response through education and training, both at the headquarters and branch levels. The Federation continued to support TRCS to conduct 2 Induction Courses, 2 Disaster Preparedness and Response Management (DPRM) Workshops and 3 Project Planning Workshops. A total of 193 persons from the TRCS headquarters and branches, partner national societies and other disaster management agencies participated in those workshops. The potential instructors were selected from among the participants of the workshops.

In order to improve the quality of TRCS emergency disaster response service, the Federation together with TRCS and American Red Cross has formed a working group on the Emergency Response Plan for the impending earthquake disaster in Istanbul. The group was formed to support TRCS in the preparation or development of emergency response plan and to create better coordination mechanism with the other groups’ plans. In connection to that TRCS and American Red Cross have continued planning activities for a joint regional (Turkey) disaster response system project in the Trakya region ranging from North-Western Turkey to the Bosphorus.

The TRCS organized the first regional DPRM workshop, which was funded by Netherlands Red Cross and provided to the Syrian Red Crescent. The 15 participants were from the headquarters staff, branch staff as well as volunteers. This was the first of three trainings that will be provided to the Syrian Red Crescent.

The American Red Cross supported the Kandilli Observatory to complete the Istanbul Risk Analysis research project. The TRCS and American Red Cross are planning to use the results from this project and other knowledge resources as part of the Disaster Information Centre (BILMER) that TRCS and American Red Cross are co-sponsoring. The American Red Cross has also supported Kandilli Observatory to undertake a Non-Structural Mitigation (NSM) research program to identify best practices for NSM that was incorporated into public awareness materials to be piloted by the two TRCS branches.

The British Red Cross, with a new Project Leader, continued on the refurbishment of the Erzurum regional warehouse. In the framework of Erzurum Disaster Preparedness and Logistics Development project of British Red Cross, the procurement and installation of computer hardware for the Erzurum regional warehouse, Erzurum branch, blood centre and health centre were completed. In the meantime British Red Cross’s stock procurement activities were in progress. 2,750 Sleeping bags, 50 x 4 kva generators and arc lights were delivered during this quarter. 2,500 winter tents and 35,000 blankets were ordered and are due to be delivered during the next quarter. In the meantime the German Red Cross supported TRCS by donating two more vehicles (1 Toyota pickup and 1 Toyota Corolla) to enhance their public service and disaster response capacity.

Humanitarian Values

The TRCS, the American Red Cross, and the ICRC have been planning a short-term project to conduct a Tracing Services assessment within TRCS to provide recommendations for further development of the TRCS tracing system. Given concerns about the possibility of population movements as a result of events in Iraq, TRCS, ARC, and the ICRC are discussing using the same short-term project to conduct a rapid training for a set of TRCS staff on the key basic elements of tracing.

Health and Care

Water-sanitation

The Federation Wat-san team worked in close cooperation with the local authorities in Kocaeli region for the final works of the Avluburun Water Treatment Plant Project (Avluburun WTP) construction. Although a delay in the construction postponed the completion of the plant for more than one month, the Avluburun WTP was completed by the end of September 2002. The construction has been designed and executed according to the recent Seismic Regulation of the Turkish Republic.

ERU Wat-san Training for TRCS personnel:

In order to enhance the Disaster Preparedness - in terms of water and sanitation - capacity of TRCS personnel, the German Red Cross together with the Federation organized the "Specialized and Mass Water and Sanitation in Emergencies" training in Izmit during May 2002. A total of 37 participants from TRCS headquarters and branches were trained to use Water Supply and Treatment materials in emergencies. German Red Cross intends to support TRCS personnel by holding refreshment courses once or twice a year.

ERU Wat-san Training for Federation Staff:

The Wat-san delegate and the assistant participated at the Wat-san ERU training, organized in Styre/Austria by the Austrian Red Cross at the end of June, 2002. They were trained on Emergency Wat-san Response.

Community Centres Programme

The first Community Centres Programme (CCP) Development Seminar was organized in April with the participation of all the CCP field personnel, CCP Federation team, CCP TRCS team and the two supervisors of the program. The aim of the seminar was to remind the history of the program, evaluate the developments that have been achieved up to that period of time, plan for the future and make the necessary modifications on specific aspects of the program.

Upon the arrival of the new CCP delegate, an analysis of the centres in the four designated areas has been conducted and a need for focus and clarity of direction was observed, as well as the need for programming that reflects the objective of capacity building.

Program has been redefined with clear outcomes/indicators in order to move in the direction of the program objectives. The new program model is expected to be consistent with the original model and the integrated approaches with disaster preparedness and branch development. For the development of this model, one or two pilot branches will be selected based on the criteria of areas potentially vulnerable for future disasters and TRCS support at the headquarters level. In the meantime, the communication and coordination with TRCS headquarters, the Federation DP and OD departments and PNSs will be a key component of integration of CCP in TRCS Branch development.

It is anticipated that this redirection would take at least six months. During this period, other centre operations will be continuing with redefinition and realignment of activities to support the overall program initiative and will be continuing to support the communities in which they are placed.

First Aid (FA) Programs

The American Red Cross has developed and received approval for a Small Grant Program project to support the TRCS First Aid group to undertake program growth activities, identified as priorities and part of an earlier strategic planning process. The American Red Cross and TRCS will encourage both TRCS headquarters units and branches to submit Small Grant proposals to the joint review committee that is being established. The American Red Cross has also held preliminary discussions with the TRCS Blood Department about the development of a joint donor management project.

Upon the arrival of the new HoD of the Italian Red Cross, Italian Red Cross and TRCS headquarters Master Trainers Team of FA (MTT) agreed that Italian Red Cross will basically prolong the support till the end of year 2002. Italian Red Cross has continued to support TRCS FA Training courses and the establishment of a permanent TRCS First Aid Volunteers Team in 3 pilot Branches: Duzce, Van and Eskisehir. So far the Italian Red Cross procured 30 simulation mannequins and printed 5.000 copies of FA manuals. The next phase of the FA project is proceeding with the procurement of uniforms for FA Volunteers.

Blood Transfusion Service (BTS)

The German Red Cross considers allocating 1.5 Million DM for equipment of the newly opened TRCS’ Blood Transfusion Centre in Istanbul. The details will be discussed between German Red Cross headquarters and the TRCS headquarters in due course. The Federation recommended German Red Cross to assist TRCS by sending a specialist on BTS in order to assist the process.

Organizational Development

Focusing on assisting TRCS for the long-term change process, including the development of their institutional capacity, the Federation Delegation has assigned, since mid-April, an Organizational Development (OD) Consultant, who earlier worked at the State Planning Institute.

An OD Working Group was formed as a steering committee with the participation of TRCS high level managers and the Federation delegates. TRCS’ Organizational Development Program is implemented within the framework of a three-level (Organizational Identity Level, Strategic Planning Level, and Program Planning Level) planning model.

The first level - Organizational Identity Level - has been achieved by developing the mission and vision statements of TRCS, as well as embedding the Fundamental Principles of the Movement in TRCS’ Statues.

The second level - Strategic Planning Level - has been commenced. It is anticipated that the Strategic Plan would cover a 3 year period, including 2003-2005. Efforts will be spent on specifying and defining the NS’s priorities as goals to be achieved. Afterwards the NS’s working areas will be prioritized.

The OD Department organized a one-day presentation for TRCS senior management on Strategic Planning, Project Cycle Management and Project Planning. "Self-assessment Questionnaire" has been applied during the presentation in order to get the opinion of the senior management. At the end of the presentation, a discussion was opened to identify and prioritize strategic working areas. The results emerging from the discussions with the senior managers have been evaluated by the OD Working Group. Six working areas that were considered proper to be set in the Strategic Plan have been settled as follows:

• Disaster management
• Health and social services
• Blood and blood production
• Branch development
• Volunteering system development
• Media and public relations.

Working groups for the other strategic working areas have been formed, and related studies are being carried out within each respective group.

Branch Development

In the framework of branch development, the American Red Cross and the TRCS Branch Local Service Delivery project has been established with the TRCS GOP Istanbul and Izmir branches. Initial activities have focused on hiring and training the new staff, however the existing branch teams have already started to work on basic implementation of disaster public awareness and branch public relations activities. In addition to disaster preparedness, this project will also focus on supporting other program development and capacity building projects by the branches.

Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement -- Fundamental Principles and Initiatives

The Italian Red Cross has been focusing on volunteerism, in order to inform the public on Red Cross and Red Crescent voluntary service, to encourage the community for volunteering and to strengthen volunteerism within TRCS. The Italian Red Cross has already made a commitment to support TRCS FA Volunteers Centres for 1 year by holding courses, refreshing/updating simulations and other social activities.

The Italian Red Cross and TRCS branches have been negotiating with the local authorities in three pilot provinces. Through these negotiations FA volunteers would be authorized to respond to any probable accident that might occur during football games, concerts or any other public events. Hence the contact with the trained volunteers would be maintained and TRCS’ image among the population would be strengthened.

Coordination and Management

The regular programme-related coordination meetings were held during the reporting period. The main issues raised during the meetings were the priorities of the TRCS, PNSs, the Federation and the ICRC, the appeal for 2003-2004 and the Federation coordination role and cooperation with PNSs and TRCS.

In line with the objectives outlined in the Federation appeal, international participation of TRCS in the global humanitarian area has increased. The Federation assisted TRCS in identifying international assistance needs through the Federation and ICRC appeals. The TRCS response to international appeals are as follows:

• Man-made disaster situations in Palestine: Responding to the humanitarian needs as a result of the crisis between Israel and Palestine, the TRCS sent four trucks load of emergency assistance to Palestine on 21 April. The relief items consisted of various medical items, food and water.
  
  
• Drought in Tajikistan: TRCS sent 20,000 USD to Tajikistan on 25 April and 20,000 USD on 14 June in response to the drought appeal.
  
  
• Floods in Syria: TRCS sent in kind relief supplies to Syrian Red Crescent for the floods on 10 June.
  
  
• Earthquake in Iran: TRCS sent a total of 10,144 kg relief items consisted of food and various types of medicines to Iran in response to the earthquake disaster that hit the northern part of the country on 22 June.
  
  
• Floods in China: TRCS has made cash donation of CHF 20,000 in response to the Federation Appeal - for the flash floods that hit the Republic of China.

Advocacy/Public Information

The Federation and American Red Cross have joined their efforts in assisting the TRCS to develop the information material for increasing public awareness. Under this public awareness work the Federation gave full support to TRCS’ Youth Department during their activities of the International Children’s Day celebration. The DP department produced and distributed 1’500 white caps, which carried message on importance of disaster preparedness. The Federation Information Officer has designed and printed 3000 exercise books for children including some information on how to behave before, during and after disasters. American Red Cross has also supported TRCS Youth Department and AFOM (Disaster Operations Centre) to develop public relations material that describe TRCS activities and provide critical disaster awareness information.

The Federation Community Centres staff together with the Information Officer focused on strengthening their relationship with local/national media by organizing the information events in Kaynasli, Duzce and Avcilar Community Centres. These events played an important role in promoting the activities of the centres, especially in spreading out the correct information about the centres by the professionals. In addition to that, those meetings were great opportunities to call for new volunteers, who are willing to work in the centres in order to help themselves and others who are in need.

American Red Cross has worked extensively with the TRCS Press Department to draft a Public Relations strategic plan for TRCS. American Red Cross has developed and received approval for a project to support critical activities in Communication and Marketing that have been outlined in the TRCS strategic plan. Highest priority will be given to developing an enhanced TRCS Public Affairs function during disaster response, a set of public relations toolkits for use by TRCS branches and headquarters units, and a mechanism to foster increased internal communication within the TRCS system.

Regarding HIV/AIDS stigma action, The Federation has been working with the Health, Blood Services, Project Planning/Training and Media Departments of TRCS in close cooperation with Saatchi&Saatchi. The Federation has been working in Ankara and Istanbul for the initial negotiations with media members in order to establish regular TV/radio programmes and news features for the HIV/AIDS stigma action, which will start at the national level in 2003. So far many TV/Radio channels have made commitment to give their contribution voluntarily, which would support the efforts of creating public awareness for the campaign.

Outstanding needs

No outstanding needs.

For further details please contact: Sylvie Chevalley, Phone: 41 22 7304276; Fax: 41 22 733 03 95; email: sylvie.chevalley@ifrc.org

All International Federation Operations seek to adhere to the Code of Conduct and are committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

For further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org.

John Horekens
Head
Relationship Management Department

Lynette Lowndes
Head
Europe Department