In brief
Programme outcome: The National Society programmes are aligned with the strategic aims of the Strategy 2020 to save lives, protect livelihoods, and strengthen recovery from disasters and crises; enable healthy and safe living; and promote social inclusion and culture of non-violence and peace.
The capacity-building efforts are in line with the enabling action one to build strong National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Programmes summary:
The disaster management programme of the Turkmenistan Red Crescent strengthened the coping capacities of the populations living in disaster prone areas by increasing community awareness of actions to take in case of a disaster (with a focus on earthquakes, floods, domestic fires and road accidents) and through small-scale mitigation projects preventing wild and domestic fires and waterborn diseases.
The National Society continued strengthening its own capacities to respond to emergencies by improving staff and volunteers’ knowledge and skills in disaster management areas. The climate change adaptation elements were introduced in the programme to improve understanding of climate change risks among Red Crescent staff and volunteers with the aim of integrating risk awareness into their programmes and to address the related humanitarian impact. Also, the National Society improved its national disaster preparedness/disaster response and contingency plans. Over the period the Red Crescent provided humanitarian aid to people affected by domestic fires.
The Red Crescent Society disseminated information about HIV among youth, key populations at higher risk and general public. The programme also increased the awareness of the harmful effects of drug use and promoted healthy lifestyle. The tuberculosis prevention component targeted people with tuberculosis (TB) on the continuation phase of treatment, their family members and general population. The services included direct observation of treatment (DOT) and social support to clients with TB and raising awareness of the disease. The community-base health and first aid (CBHFA) remained focused on health education and first aid sessions for rural communities. Pregnant women, women of reproductive age and schoolchildren also improved their knowledge of reproductive health issues.
A review of achievements of the Red Crescent strategy 2007-2010 preceded the development of a new strategy 2011-2015 that was approved by the National Society governing board in November.
Besides, the National Society adopted the rules and procedures for human resources management and elaborated a salary scale for its staff that is now used.
The chairperson of the National Society and the head of volunteer management department passed the Movement Induction Course held in Russian, in Geneva. Programme managers and heads of departments from the Red Crescent Society headquarters improved their planning and monitoring skills through the training in project/programme planning.
A draft Red Crescent law was revised in accordance with the comments from the interagency commission that includes representatives of the parliament, ministries and public organizations, and sent to the parliament and the Institute of Democracy and Human Rights under the president of Turkmenistan. The expectation is that by the end of 2011 the law will be adopted by the parliament.
The principles and values programme informed the general public about the Movement’s components, its principles, values and commitments and facilitated sessions on anti-discrimination, tolerance and respect for diversity during trainings and seminars organized by other programmes for beneficiaries and partners.