ReliefWeb

MAA52001
23 December 2011
This report covers the period 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2011.

In brief

Programme outcome
The aim of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is to coordinate and support efforts at country and regional level to assist South Asian national societies to scale up their work to improve the lives of vulnerable people. Programme(s) summary The South Asia regional programmes focused on the work towards an integrated programming approach and tackling cross-cutting issues.
The regional disaster management (DM) team continued to focus on supporting the national societies to improve their community based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) programming and support their disaster preparedness capacity building. The capacities of disaster response teams at the regional, national and branch levels were also improved to respond effectively and function as response networks during emergencies.

During the reporting period, the regional disaster management coordinator updated and articulated a DM strategy for the region as well as the development of a new human resource structure focusing on bringing the regional team closer to the field.
With the mapping done of health projects/programmes implemented in the South Asia region, the regional health and care programme focused on assisting national societies in their endeavour to reduce vulnerability due to poor health by enhancing their capacity to respond to HIV and other public health issues in emergencies and in peace times, through partnership, advocacy and resource development initiatives. Furthermore, the focus was on the scaling up of community-based health and first aid (CBHFA) activities and rolling out the global CBHFA in action across the region. During the reporting period, the newly formed and recognized Maldivian Red Crescent have completed and published their strategic plan 2011-2015, while the Afghanistan Red Crescent and Bangladesh Red Crescent Societies are in process of finalizing their revised strategic plan. Indian Red Cross Society will plan to review and start the process of their new strategic plan in 2012.
In continuation of the ‘Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change’ (YABC) summit on the promotion of a culture of non-violence and peace for Red Cross Red Crescent youth held in Italy during September, a regional pilot YABC training was organized for the South Asian national societies in Bangladesh from 8-20 December 2011. The South Asia communications programme supports global initiatives that resonated in the region like the International Year of Volunteers, World Aids Day and World Disaster Report (WDR). This year the WDR 2011 report was launched in Delhi which focused on hunger and malnutrition. At the end of the reporting period, the South Asia regional delegation’s (SARD) disaster management, health and organizational development programmes were integrated into one unit – the preparedness and resilience unit (PRU). This unit will facilitate better integrated working and provide stronger technical support to the national societies and country offices in the region. The unit title reflects the needs of and situation in South Asia.