Peer-to-Peer Exchange Visit of Lao Red Cross to Nepal Red Cross Society on Radio Programming and Community Engagement | 13-17 February 2017 | Kathmandu, Nepal
2017-02-13 - 2017-02-17
Lao Red Cross, with support from IFRC, visited Nepal and met with Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), Association of Community Radios Nepal (APORAB) and BBC Media Action on 13-17 February 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal to do the radio peer-to-peer exchange with NRCS for the Lao Red Cross’ Communications and Fundraising Department (CFD).
Outcomes
On day 1 they had a meeting about the overview of NRCS’ CFD and community engagement and accountibility (CEA) initiatives – NRCS presented about Hotline 1130, the newspapers’ Q&A columns, Facebook communication, NRCS’ radio programme and street dramas by NRCS.

Volunteers from 14 of the worst quake-affected districts in Nepal were trained how to to carry out interviews with community members. Photo Credit: Lao Red Cross Society

On day 2 they had a field travel to Kavre to have a meeting with Kavre chapter to gain understanding of the community engagement aspects of Kavre chapter which included Kavre chapter shared CEA in earthquake operations, Community Disaster Management Committees (CDMC) were formed to gather feedbacks and they are shared with RC monthly, local radio stations were selected based on coverage, radio volunteers for RC were identified, and RC radio volunteers are informed about the activities and are free to choose contents to cover. Then they had a field visit to the community where Kavre chapter was carrying out second installation of cash for livelihoods recovery, to observe the radio volunteers carrying out interviews with community members.
On day 3 they had a meeting with BBC Media Action’s earthquake recovery production team and Country Director – They shared the production process and success stories of their community radio programme following the earthquake and discussed their partnership and collaboration/coordination with the humanitarian partners. Then there was a meeting with ACORAB, which is an umbrella of 300 community radios in Nepal, to discuss ACORAB’s community engagement initiatives (broadcasted in over 70 languages, engaging children as reporters, radio dramas, lifeline programme, using community voice as evidence-based advocacy, etc.). They also had discussions with LRC about the progress of their radio programme, social media progress, radio training, social media training, production of 10-12 radio spots, completion of on-the-job training for two CFD’s radio staff, peer-to-peer with NRCS, International Women’s Day, May 8’s concept note and 2017 activities.

Meeting amoung Lao Red Cross, Nepal Red Cross Society and BBC Media Action.

Follow-Up Actions
For Lao Red Cross, the concept note and budget for the radio training and social media training will be shared. And following the P2P with NRCS, the LRC has come up with the next concrete steps which are to propose a professional radio speaker from LNR while the two CFD staff of the radio will continue to received trainings from LNR, to reach out to other departments, provinces and external agencies to gather voices from the community, to share monthly updates with the IFRC’s communications staff to keep track of the progress and share important feedback, to set up a studio at the headquater for which CFD will follow up and include in 2017 plan, to develop an annual plan and share it with IFRC, and following the radio training at HQ level, to organize a training for 4-5 priority provinces (2017 plan).
For IFRC, the IFRC’s communications staff will support LRC in the upcoming radio training, and regarding social media training, they will identify a communications team member to support LRC in the training.
See the related story: Giving quake-affected communities a voice through radio

2nd ASEAN Safe School Conference | 14-15 February 2017 | Bangkok
2017-02-14 - 2017-02-15
On 14 and 15 February 2017, key government officials from the Ministries of Education and National Disaster Management Offices of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States and other active stakeholders came together at the 2nd ASEAN Regional Conference on School Safety in Bangkok. The Conference was co-organized by ASEAN, ASEAN Safe Schools Initiative (ASSI) Consortium and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Key government officials from ASEAN Member States made statement to reaffirm their commitment to school safety initiative.
The meeting has reaffirmed the ASEAN governments’ commitment to prioritise school safety through the implementation of relevant regional and global frameworks in Disaster Risk Reduction as well as to strengthen the collaboration among the working groups to continue in advancing Safe Schools in the region.
“As we enter the 3rd phase of ASSI implementation, it is timely that we mark it with a regional event such as this Conference, to provide a venue for all school safety stakeholders in ASEAN for knowledge exchanges and sharing of lessons learned on comprehensive school safety programming,” said Mr.Kobchai Boonyaorana, Thai Director Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Policy Bureau.
Several key issues have been addressed to highlight the importance of integrating disaster risk reduction in the education sector such as the regional approach to comprehensive school safety and education in emergencies, safe school network movement as well as the resources and tools to enabling the riskless environment. The regional implementation progress, including the achievements and the strategies were also widely discussed.
As part of the founding member of Asia Pacific Coalition for School Safety (APCSS), the IFRC has been involved in key steps of the ASSI in the past years. In this Conference, IFRC facilitated the thematic session on “Enhancing the ASEAN Youth engagement in school safety initiatives” engaging representatives from ASEAN National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, schools, youth, UN agencies and other partners.
Lessons learned and experience were shared among the participants. The new IFRC tool, Youth engagement toolkit in School Safety, was introduced in the thematic session and the potential opportunities and key recommendations were proposed back to the plenary meeting.
Lai Wai Keat, a youth volunteer from Malaysian Red Crescent and a member of South East Asia Youth Network (SEAYN) presented the key recommendation on youth engagement.
“I would like to say this Conference is very inspiring, because for me, I managed to see what others have been doing in this field,” said Mr. Lai Wai Keat, a youth volunteer from Malaysian Red Crescent Society. “After this Conference, I will fly back to Malaysia to find more volunteers to join in, and we can start doing something from there with the Malaysian Red Crescent,” he added.
South East Asia is one of the regions with high incidence of natural hazards such as earthquake, floods, typhoons and fire. More than 100 million children are at risk living or studying in these disaster-prone areas.[1] They are also among the most vulnerable groups when disaster strikes due to limited resources and capacity[2]. Empowering the children and young people to identify the risks they face at home, at school and in their community as well as enable them to become more resilient to disasters, is therefore crucial to achieve ASEAN goal on Disaster Management.
“Building safe and resilient schools is a corner stone of building resilient communities,”
emphasized Mr. Marwan Jilani, the Head of the IFRC Bangkok Country Cluster Support Team in his closing statement.
The organization made two commitments at this conference; by first, to strengthen and broaden the engagement the youth and volunteers and scale up our school safety activities to more schools and more children at risk, and second to institutionalize the partnership around ASSI Consortium as an inclusive and long-term program approach.
“We look forward to taking this important initiative to new levels and to reach together to more schools and more children,” he concluded.
[1] ASEAN and Civil Society Launch Safe Schools Initiative
[2] Social Vulnerability to Disasters

Outcome Document
» Summary Report
Supporting Documents
» Agenda
» Thematic Session detail
» IFRC’s statement at 2nd ASEAN Conference on School Safety
Powerpoint Presentations
» Youth engagement in School Safety
» Youth in School Safety Facilitators’ Toolkit
» Red Cross youth
» UNESCO

National Workshop on KAP Survey Result Sharing | 21 Feb 2017 | Vientiane, Lao PDR
2017-02-21
This Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Baseline Survey Result Sharing workshop had an opening remark by Dr. Kaviphone, Head of Disaster Management Department of Lao Red Cross, followed by the explanation of the workshop’s objectives by IFRC Building Urban Resilience Project Manager. Then there was a session of sharing experiences of Child-led data collection process on KAP Survey by LRC and children representatives, followed by the presentation on the results of KAP baseline survey in Vientiane. After that that was a session of feedback on key preliminary results and sharing project implementation plan for year 2017 by LRC and IFRC. The workshop ended with the way forward and wrap-up. during the workshop 10 youth representatives joined and shared their lesson learned and experiences on data collection.

The KAP survey has been conducted using Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Survey of the Building Urban Resilience (BUR) Project. The aim of the survey is to determine baseline data to develop project activities and also is used to be comparative with the endline survey at the end of the project to measure an improvement of the knowledge/awareness and behavior of people in the communities.

The specific objectives on better understanding of the community knowledge/awareness are:
– The target people have the basic knowledge/awareness and are prepared for reducing the risks of disasters (flood, storm and fire)
– To assess basic knowledge in information on road safety
– To identify the difference knowledge between men and women to define an appropriate activity and to have participation of both gender

See also:
A web story: Promoting school youth in Building Urban Resilience programme – Lao youth join KAP Baseline Survey activity

About BUR project:
The 18-month Building Urban Resilience (BUR) in Southeast Asia project, funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), supports Red Cross Movement partners in four countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Viet Nam and the Philippines, to build capacities of National Society staff, government officials, school teachers and school children, Red Cross youth and volunteers, and partners, through a coherent, regional strategy building on good practice and using innovative methods. The action emphasizes gender equity and social inclusion, among poor, vulnerable people, including people with disabilities and older people. This project was established by the Lao Red Cross, and has been implemented in 5 districts of Vientiane capital with expectation of reaching 38,000 people including government officials, teachers, small sellers and labourers.

Expected Outcome: Safer behaviour, improved preparedness, and social change in urban areas through innovative and tailored public awareness and public education (PAPE) for disaster risk reduction
Read more about Building Urban Resilience

Flood Resilience Innovation Conference | 23-24 February 2017 | Jakarta, Indonesia
2017-02-23 - 2017-02-24 | Jakarta, Indonesia
The two-day conference is organized by the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and IFRC in Jakarta to showcase and pitch innovative ideas related to flood resilience. The project supported selected National Society representatives to attend as a peer-to-peer learning experience.
See also:

A web story: Innovators take to the stage with ideas for building community resilience towards flooding and other disasters
Flood Resilience Innovation Conference (FRIC) Indonesia website
Concept note of the event

E-WASH Training Sessions | 27 February-3 March 2017 | Lao PDR
2017-02-27 - 2017-03-03
e-WASH Training Feb 2017 in Lao PDR

e-WASH Training Feb 2017 in Lao PDR photo2

First training is Training of Trainers on Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (e-WASH) response and preparedness for Red Cross WASH focal staff
Second training is Training on Emergency WASH response and preparedness for Red Cross Volunteers

These two training sessions were the first start/first phase of Emergency WASH activities conducted by the Health Promotion Department of Lao Red Cross Society. The two trainings focused on key practical sessions. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Promotion were highlighted to all participants.
The results of the pre/post-tests of True&False Quiz showed that the participants (Training of Trainers e-WASH focal persons)’s knowledge significantly improved from 70% to 95%. The results pre/post-tests of True&False Quiz showed that the participants (RC volunteers)’s knowledge significantly improved from 55% to 67%. In conclusion, the expectations of the participants were met and satisfied.
The Lao Red Cross staff and volunteers contributed greatly and put a lot of efforts to the success of these two training sessions. The participants were working so hard until late to dig the pit/deep hole of 1.5 metres for two latrines with constructed roof top and wall and the water drainage area/water system for the selected primary school. The community participation and engagement by the community leaders and school principal was the key achievement of these two training in Khammuane Province.
The WASH Coordinator from IFRC in Cambodia mentioned that additional two more AP 700 Manpacks will be provided to Laos this year and they are planning to develop the WASH training projects for Laos again this year in one to two provinces depending on the budget availability and the donor decision. The head of Health Promotion Department of Lao Red Cross Society will follow up with the provincial-level entity about the use of AP 700 and latrines constructed in the local primary school. He will also send to IFRC in Bangkok the activity report and financial report within March 2017.

Regional Consultations for Rights of Migrants in Action | 1-2 March 2017 | Bangkok, Thailand
2017-03-01 - 2017-03-02 | Novotel Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand
right-of-migrants-in-action-consultation-mar2017-bangkok-group-photo

right-of-migrants-in-action-consultation-mar2017-bangkok-ifrc

right-of-migrants-in-action-consultation-mar2017-bangkok-presentation

Objective of Regional Consultations
The purpose each Regional Consultation is to facilitate networking opportunities, strengthen collaboration and exchange between implementing partners, harness the collective experiences of partner civil society organizations (CSOs) and develop a set of recommendations linked to the implementation and objectives of the Rights of Migrants in Action project. More in details, programme managers from partner CSOs and National Society’s Focal Points will have the possibility to strengthen synergies, share and analyse key achievements and challenges, exchange good practices.
Furthermore, discussions related to existing and missing regional policies with regard to targeted populations will help identify regional recommendations for development of Rights of Migrants in Action’s global policy papers on human rights of migrants, human trafficking and domestic labour migration.
This meeting constitutes a series of five Regional Conferences which will take place in the Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and Middle East and North Africa regions. For Asia the Regional Consultation will happen on 1-2 March 2017.
Participants
In addition to National Society focal points and programme managers from partner CSOs within each region, the meeting will gather Central Programme Unit members and IFRC regional representatives, as well as external partners and stakeholders, including representatives from the European Union, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Organization for Migration, United Nation agencies, and civil society actors working on the field of migration. There will be approximately 30 participants.
Methodology
Through a highly participatory approach, participants will be actively involved throughout the meeting and will be requested to share practises through presentations and exercises to ensure that insight on different perspectives and experiences is gauged. Background documents and templates for presentation will be shared in advance.
Day 1
The meeting will focus on leveraging the knowledge and experience of partner CSOs, National Society Focal points and IFRC representatives. It will open with some introductory remarks from representatives from hosting National Society and IFRC Regional office to set the scene and present the objectives and outcomes of the event.
The Rights of Migrants in Action’s Central Programme Unit will provide an overview presentation on key achievements, challenges, best practices, recommendations and projected plans from a global perspective. It will be followed by a panel per country composed by the National Society Focal Point and CSOs representatives: a discussion will be established around the aforementioned points and will be moderated by the NS’s focal point.
A template for the presentation will be provided to each CSO ahead of the meeting, this document will be distributed among participants. This will be followed by a Q&A session. Participants will be given the floor to share comment and concise reactions, building on leading strategic questions provided in advance.
Expectations for Day 1
1. Participants are expected to share information about achievements, challenges and best practices experienced during project implementation
2. National Society and partner CSOs in the region will meet and explore opportunities for networking, peer-to-peer learning, exchange of knowledge and expertise.
Powerpoint Presentations for Day 1
» Agenda for Day 1
» Right of Migrants in Action Project Overview
» Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nepal
» Gemapalu Indonesia
» Layak Indonesia
» OTMI Indonesia
» SBMI Equator Indonesia
» Foundation for Education and Development (FED) Thailand
» Foundation for Labour and Employment Promotion (FLEP)/Homenet Thailand
» Mobile Application by Foundation of Labour and Employment Promotion (FLEP)
» Migrant Assistance Programme (MAP) Foundation Thailand
» The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF) Thailand

Day 2
Part 1: Three key note speakers will introduce and analyse the policy regional dimension of human rights of migrants, human trafficking and domestic labour migration. Key note speakers will be identified among members of academia, UN, IOM, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, etc.
Part 2: Three working stations (human rights of migrants, human trafficking and domestic labour migration) will be formed. Each working station will have a whiteboard. Participants will circulate among the workstations providing their feedbacks on the main gaps at the regional level and their recommendations for each topic. This setting will give the possibility to participants to take part in all aspects of the discussion.
Identified facilitators/rapporteurs for each working station will summarize and present the key elements from the discussions on the final plenary session.
Part 3: Final plenary – taking stock of the day, assembling results and policy recommendations and agreeing on the way forward.
Expectations for Day 2
1. Gaps related to existing and missing regional policies with regard to targeted populations will be discussed and summarized.
2. Recommendations on human rights of migrants, human trafficking and domestic labour migration are collected at the regional level and will constitute the basis for the development of global position papers.
Powerpoint Presentations for Day 2
» Agenda for Day 2
» Right of Migrants in Action (RoMiA) Project Overview by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
» Migration: The role of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
» Keynote Speech by International Labour Organization (ILO)
» Keynote Speech by Migrant Forum Asia
See also: A web story: Giving migrant workers a platform to voice their rights

National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) training for Thai Red Cross Society | 15-17 March 2017 | Bangkok, Thailand
2017-03-13 - 2017-03-17
ndrt-training-march2017-3

ndrt-training-march2017-2-jpg

ndrt-training-march2017

Background and Rationale
The Thai Red Cross Society (TRC) has 3 minimum standards to assist victims when disasters occur as follow:
1. The relief kit items will be distributed to the victims after 6 hours that a disaster has happened
2. TRC will set up the tent to assist the victims within 4 hours after a disaster strikes
3. The victims will receive food and beverage within 4 hours after a disaster strikes
In the past 2 years, TRC has been conducting the National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) which the participants were from Red Cross Chapters, Red Cross health stations and relevant networks. There were 149 TRC’s staffs from different regions of Thailand who have been trained and are ready to be deployed for disaster responses. TRC would like to expand the knowledge of disaster response to new-comer staff, in order to deploy them for disaster reliefs and responses both at the national and regional levels.
Key outcomes
• Participants gained the knowledge of disaster response and understood the TRCS’s disaster response mechanism
• Participants understood the assessment cycle and can identify the plan of action
• Participants understood the coordination and communication during disaster
Next steps
• The second and third NDRT training will be conducted in Q2 and Q3 of 2017. See the second training held in June 2017
• The next NDRT training will focus on the specialized training such as Disaster Assessment, Water and Sanitation, and Psychosocial Support
Powerpoint Presentations
Day 1
» Introduction to NDRT training
» IFRC’s disaster response team: Structure and tools
» การบริหารจัดการภัยพิบัติในประเทศไทย – Disaster Management in Thailand
» การเตรียมความพร้อมของสภากาชาดฯ ในสถานการณ์ที่สุ่มเสี่ยงและไม่ปลอดภัย – Preparation of Thai Red Cross Society for risky and dangerous situations
» ความมั่นคงปลอดภัยในการปฏิบัติงาน – Security in operations
» คำศัพท์ด้านภัยพิบัติ – Disasters terminologies
Day 2
» การประเมินความเสียหายและความต้องการ – Evaluation of damages and needs
» กลไกการรับมือกับภัยพิบัติของสภากาชาดไทย – Mechanism for dealing with disasters of Thai Red Cross Society
» มาตรฐาน Sphere กับการช่วยเหลือผู้ประสบภัย – Sphere standard and helping disaster-affected people
» คำถามเกณฑ์มาตรฐานขั้นต่ำในเรื่องต่างๆ ของประเด็นภัยพิบัติ – Questions on minimum standards on issues related to disasters
Day 3
» การจัดการศูนย์พักพิงชั่วคราว– Management of temporary shelters
» การสนับสนุนด้านจิตสังคมสำหรับผู้ประสบภัยพิบัติ – Psychosocial support for disaster-affected people
» การจัดการด้านการบรรเทาทุกข์ – Relief management
» น้ำ สุขาภิบาล และการส่งเสริมสุขอนามัย สำหรับผู้ประสบภัยพิบัติ – Water, sanitation and hygiene works for disaster-affected people
» การลงพื้นที่ปฏิบัติงานหน่วยผลิตน้ำดื่ม – Field works of the water production unit
» การบริการทางการแพทย์ในภาวะฉุกเฉิน – Medical services in emergencies
» ระบบโลจิสติกส์ในงานสาธารณภัย – Logistical system in disaster relief works
Day 4
» สื่อกับการจัดการภัยพิบัติ – Media and disaster management

Workshop on Communication Strategy for Blood Donation of Lao National Blood Transfusion Centre | 13-17 March 2017 | Lao PDR
2017-03-13 - 2017-03-17
According to the commitment between Thai Red Cross Society and Lao Red Cross summarized from the bilateral coordinating meeting in Nong Khai Province in 2015, Thai Red Cross agreed in principle to help improving the capacities of Lao National Blood Transfusion Centre (NBTC) in increasing number of new blood donors to achieve the target set for the year 2020. Every year, 60,000 blood units are needed in Lao PDR but only 40,000 blood units are collected from voluntary blood donors.
Regarding to NBTC’s marketing and communications strategy, increasing the visibility of communication campaigns and improving the public awareness campaigns of NBTC are the key important processes in order to broadly reach out to the new targeted audiences and new blood donors and young generations and general populations in communities. The peer-to-peer technical support in developing the communication strategy on blood recruitment and blood donation and community and public awareness campaigns was held during 13-17 March 2017 with the support from German Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, Country Cluster Support Team (IFRC CCST) in Bangkok.
At the end of a workshop, a team from the National Blood Transfusion Center of Lao Red Cross (LRC) committed to move forward with the ideas, resources, guidance and suggestions from Thai Red Cross Society (TRCS) in applying to fit with Laos’ local context. The posters, short films, TV spot, radio spot, IEC material produced by TRSC are very helpful and useful for LRC to modify and adapt to Laos’ local context. The strategic communication action plan 2017 onwards, a new logo of NBTC, four TV and Radio spots and some selected posters have been developed during the five-day workshop. The new key message of NBTC is “Give blood every 3-4 months makes you healthy.” The peer-to-peer technical support from TRSC is very useful for LRC as observed. German Red Cross very appreciated this peer-to-peer support and thanked TRC and IFRC for this peer-to-peer support that came from bilateral cooperation agreement.

Training on Participatory Development of Multi-Disaster Risk Map using QGIS | 21-23 March 2017 | Viet Nam
2017-03-21 - 2017-03-25
This training is one of the key activities at the regional level under the Building Urban Resilience in South East Asia project supported by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO). The project supports Red Cross Movement partners in Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam and Philippines to increase the capacity of local government authorities and Red Cross for disaster preparedness and response through working together to improve community-based disaster risk reduction tools. Thus, as part of the project an innovative and user-friendly risk mapping method for urban Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) has been developed.
Aim
To present this new risk-mapping method to Red Cross National Society staff and representatives from authorities who are actively involved in Disaster Risk Management and in disaster preparedness and response.
Objectives
After this 3-day training, the participants are able to:
• Explain:
o Basic concept of QGIS
o Benefits of using QGIS for participatory development of a multi-disaster risk map to support Disaster Risk Management
o Steps of information collection in the community (including usage of GPS in smart phone)
o Steps of using QGIS to develop and update the multi-disaster risk map
o Steps of using QGIS risk map for planning, post-disaster damage and need assessment, and raising awareness for community at urban and peri-urban areas
• Practise participatory development and update the multi-disaster risk map at urban and peri-urban areas using the QGIS software
• Develop an action plan for developing QGIS multi-disaster risk map after the training
Expected Outcomes
– Participants have increased knowledge and ability to put into practice the news participatory mapping method in order to develop local urban multi-disaster risks maps
– Participants have increased knowledge and ability to put into practice the key concepts of community participation and gender and disability inclusion in risk mapping
Participants
Viet Nam Red Cross Society staff and/or representatives from Disaster Management authorities who are actively involved in Disaster Risk Management or disaster preparedness and response and who are willing to pilot the new mapping method in urban context.
Outcomes
During the workshop, the project team members from Cambodia, Philippines, and Lao PDR discussed and worked in group to practise and draw maps through the software. The development process of these community maps was based on paper mapping and importing of the data from paper mapping into the QGIS program.
After the workshop completion, the project team and participants from VNRC and the government partners provided feedback and comment about the utilization and practice of QGIS software including the handout/manual which provided the step-by-step procedure.
Next Steps
At the end of the project, in October 2017, a second Regional event will take place. Lesson learned from the use of this participatory multi-disaster risks mapping method in support to DRM planning will be gathered and documented as inputs for the finalization of the method.

Lao Red Cross Youth Empowerment Programme in Social Inclusion | 22-24 March 2017 | Lao PDR
2017-03-22 - 2017-03-24
Lao Red Cross youth empowerment programme Mar 2017

Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change (YABC) Youths in Lao Red Cross Society successfully implemented the youth empowerment programme on the theme of social inclusion at the National University of Lao with the attendance of 200 students.
This activity inspired 200 youths to change their mindset and attitude about the discrimination, exclusion and stereotyped opinions against their marginalised friends. It became more significant to Lao Youth since this was the first time of the youth-designed activity and it was totally led by themselves from planning to implementation.
Twenty (20) core group youths, confident of their achievements, decided to carry on more activities with the same approach targeting communities and universities by their own planning and efforts starting from May 2017.
Read more:

Concept note
Agenda
Resource: Youth Empowerment in Community (YEC) Programme Guide Pilot version
Case studies of Youth Empowerment:

Youth partnership promoting non-violence – Viet Nam Red Cross Society – Da Nang Chapter
Youth volunteers supporting people with HIV/AIDS – Cambodia Red Cross Society – Siem Ream Branch

For more information about Youth and Volunteering, visit Youth and Volunteering page.

Radio Training | 20-23 March 2017 | Lao PDR
2017-03-22 - 2017-03-24
Radio Training - Lao Red Cross 2017
Day 1: Knowledge sharing from LNR trainer, Mr. Vansay Tavinyahn.

Radio Training - Lao Red Cross 2017
Day 2 : Practicing to be an annoucer and developing a radio content, Q&A with the trainer, and getting feedback from the other participants.

Radio Training - Lao Red Cross 2017
Day 3 : Learning how to record and edit the radio spot, and continue practicing on the radio spot development.

Radio Training - Lao Red Cross 2017
Coverage in Vientiane Times, page 5, 23 March 2017 issue.

Radio Training - Lao Red Cross 2017
Coverage in Lao Pattana, page 4, 23 March 2017 issue.

The radio training was held in Thalad, Lao PDR on 20-23 March 2017 by Lao Red Cross’ Communications and Fundraising Department (CFD) with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
This training was a follow-up from IFRC’s review and recommendations to strengthen the radio programme in August 2016. The CFD had identified the need to build the capacity in radio programming at the headquarters level through a radio training for CFD and technical department staff and radio volunteers and to enhance the collaboration between the CFD and technical departments to allow more effective sharing of information.
The training helped other departments understand the need to raise community voices through the radio programme and how they could contribute contents to the CFD. Following the training, the CFD consolidated activity updates from the technical departments to develop a radio programme plan.

Objectives of the training:

To enhance the capacity of Red Cross communication department in developing more interactive contents for the radio programme.
To enhance the collaboration between communication and technical staff at the headquarters level to diversify the contents of the radio programme.
To produce 10-12 radio spots by April 2017.

Following the training:

The CFD will able to develop a three-month content plan for the radio programme in collaboration with the technical departments.
The technical departments understand what information they need to provide to the radio programme staff to develop the content for the radio programme.
The CFD, with Lao National Radio support, will be able to produce 10-12 radio spots by the end of April 2017 on the key activity areas of LRC including blood donation, disaster management, healthcare, gender and diversity and youth and volunteer.

Supporting documents of the training:

Concept note
Agenda
Participant list
Radio role play exercise
Report of the training

Annual Blood Donation Campaign 2017: "Good Health begins with donating blood every 3 month" | 27-28 March 2017 | Khon Kaen, Thailand
2017-03-27 - 2017-03-28
annual-blood-campaign-trc-khon-kaen-march2017-3

annual-blood-campaign-trc-khon-kaen-march2017-2

annual-blood-campaign-trc-khon-kaen-march2017

This blood donation campaign, organized by The National Blood Donation Centre in accordance with the National Blood Donation Plan 2017 of Thai Red Cross Society. This event was held in Khon Kaen province of Thailand on 27-28 March 2017 to demonstrate the capacity of the Mobile Blood Donation Unit/Service with medical equipment/installations, the processes of operating Mobile Blood Donation Unit and Medical equipment maintenance of Mobile Blood Donation Unit/Service. There was also visiting of the Fix station (the extended blood service in the community at Kosa Hotel). The theme of this campaign is “Good health begins with donating blood every 3 month”.
Six participants from Lao Red Cross National Blood Transfusion Centre were cordially invited to take part in the Biennial Blood Campaign 2017 as scheduled. Additionally, with this campaign, there were 155 provincial Red Cross committee members from 13 provinces located in the North-Eastern part of Thailand actively attended in this important event. This biennial campaign is not only improving the capacity of the members of Red Cross at the provincial level but also increasing knowledge and public awareness raising in communities in understanding the need of blood to save lives. It was anticipated that this would be a great opportunity for Lao Red Cross National Blood Transfusion Centre to learn and then share the experience for increasing the visibility and the capacities to scale up “the quality of blood services in Laos PDR.”

National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) training with a focus on gender and diversity | 27-31 March 2017 | Lao PDR
2017-03-27 - 2017-03-31
ndrt-training-focus-on-gnd-mar2017-laos-4

ndrt-training-focus-on-gnd-mar2017-laos-3

ndrt-training-focus-on-gnd-mar2017-laos-2

ndrt-training-focus-on-gnd-mar2017-laos

NDRT is a key response tools of National Societies (NSs) and the training was an opportunity to focus in particular at the assessment templates and assess which tools to extend to take into consideration gender and diversity.
The agenda consisted of the topics such as needs assessment with gender and diversity analysis, logistics and relief management as well as lessons learned from Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) operation in 2016. There also were the session on applying the theory and lessons learned to a scenario on flood response. A colleague from the the Relief and Community Health Bureau of Thai Red Cross Society also joined this table-top exercise to co-facilitate the session, give technical advice and share experiences from regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT) deployment. The 5-day training was completed successfully thank to the contribution of staff from Lao Red Cross, Thai Red Cross Society, International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities (IFRC) as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Lao PDR.

2nd Training on Basic First Aid for GRAB taxi drivers in Thailand | 30 March 2017 | Bangkok, Thailand
2017-03-30
trianing-first-aid-grab-taxi-march2017

trianing-first-aid-grab-taxi-march2017-5

trianing-first-aid-grab-taxi-march2017-4

trianing-first-aid-grab-taxi-march2017-3

trianing-first-aid-grab-taxi-march2017-2

Twenty three GRAB taxi, GRAB cars and GRAB bikes drivers actively participated in first aid training which included basic first aid theory and practical sessions provided by the Thai Red Cross Training Center for First Aid and Health Care.
This second training included first aid, CPR – cardiopulmonary resuscitation, choking, fractures and dislocations, legs injuries, preparing and referring to hospitals. Three senior first aid instructors were facilitating according to the standard first aid training course of IFRC.
Based on the results of this training, all of the participants mentioned that the levels of confidence to use and practise CPR and chocking in the real situation significantly increased to 75-80 percent. All participants appreciated the training methods, facilitations and six practical sessions which will be useful to help other people and their families. They mentioned the training reached to more than their expectation. The post-test evaluation was applied for all the trainees before distributing the certificates.
Additionally, GRAB Thailand is planning to conduct nine training sessions for Grab taxi drivers in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Khon Kaen provinces in 2017. It is expected that there will be more than 300 Grab taxi drivers receiving knowledge and skills about basic first aid to improve road safety and save lives while working and driving on the streets in this year.
Read more about the partnership among Grab, IFRC and Thai Red Cross at http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/asia-pacific/thailand/partnering-up-to-make-the-streets-safer-in-thailand-73705/

Psychosocial Support in Community training for Shan Migrants in Chiang Mai | 3-5 April 2017 | Chiang Mai, Thailand
2017-04-03 - 2017-04-05
pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017

pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017-4

pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017-6

pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017-7

pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017-3

pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017-2

pss-shan-migrants-training-april2017-5

In April 2017, The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF), in tandem with the Thai Red Cross Society, with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC), at Thai Red Cross Health Station No.3 Chiang Mai, organized the training on Psychosocial Support (PSS) in Community for Shan migrants, to help build their capacity to help their own communities when people are in need of psychosocial support.
Among the various migrant communities that live in Thailand, it is estimated that there are approximately 90,000 Shan migrant workers in Chiang Mai. Part of this large, and growing, community, has experienced significant trauma in their journeys emigrating to Thailand and in their vulnerability to legal protection, both in Thailand and in Myanmar. Natural disasters, personal conflicts, painful experiences, traffic accidents and myriad social pressures can cause intense psychological stress on individuals and on larger communities. Currently, there is very little structure in place or resources available to help migrants deal with these issues.
In this training, Thai Red Cross Society provided the technical support with four senior nurses/PSS trainers to facilitate this training for TLSDF/Rak Dek with the technical support from IFRC CCST BKK which facilitated this training. There were 27 community volunteers participating in this PSS trainings. The training was conducted by using the community-based PSS training materials of IFRC Reference Center for phychosocial support which are toolkits with seven modules, namely,
– Crisis events and PSS
– Stress and coping
– Loss and grief
– Community-based Psychosocial Support
– PSS First Aid and supportive communication
– Children
– Supporting volunteers and staff
The Feedbacks from each trainee were collected and recorded for further analysis. It was found that the results of the participants’ expectation were high and reached their expectation. They addressed that they will be using this PSS knowledge, both technical and practical skills, in helping their family, friends and migrant communities. Certificates of participation were provided to all participants.

South-East Asia Regional Community Safety and Resilience Forum | 18-20 April 2017 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2017-04-18 - 2017-04-20
The Regional Community Safety and Resilience Forum 2017 was hosted by Malaysian Red Crescent Society, with the support of IFRC CCST Bangkok, from 18-20 April, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Forum was held with the participation of 32 representatives (Disaster Management, Health, OD and Youth) from 11 National Societies in the South East Asian Region – Brunei Darussalam Red Crescent, Cambodian Red Cross, Indonesian Red Cross, Lao Red Cross, Malaysia Red Crescent, Myanmar Red Cross, Philippines Red Cross, Singapore Red Cross, Thai Red Cross, Timor-Leste Red Cross and Viet Nam Red Cross.

The purpose of the Forum is to enhance regional integration, coordination, communication and cooperation between SEA RCRC members. It is tasked to translate the results of the strategic policy and direction decisions of the Leaders into the operational action to promote the establishment of safer and resilient communities. This Forum is responsible for escorting (i) the global agendas of SDGs, Sendai Framework for DRR and Paris Agreement; (ii) Engaging with ASEAN; (iii) 1 Billion Coalition; (iv) Cross Border Cooperation; (v) School Safety; and (vi) Sustainability of National Societies.
The Forum saw significant increase in terms of participation and ownership of the National Societies in debating and finding better ways to work together as well as to advocate for the key outcomes of the meeting, along with some exchange learning sessions among the National Societies.

The Forum offered an opportunity of visit to two social inclusion centres (i) Anjung Singgah – a temporary transit shelter initiated by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development which provide them a space and opportunity to live independently. The homeless people are able to stay up to two weeks while waiting to secure jobs or a permanent places to live; and (ii) People with Disability Centre run by the Ministry of Welfare, which provides social support and social inclusion to PWDs in Malaysia.
Supporting documents
» Regional Community Safety and Resilience Forum Agenda
» Participant List
» Practical Information – Visit to Kuala Lumpur
» Roadmap for Regional Cooperation
» Graphic: Resilience House
Outcome document: Final Report
Powerpoint presentations
Day 1
» Action plan: Strengthening Brunei Red Crescent Society 2017-2020
» Brunei Red Crescent Society: Community resilience and empowerment projects
» Cambodia Red Cross Society’s contributions to CSR roadmap
» Timor Leste Red Cross Society’s contributions to CSR roadmap
» Health, disaster management, organizational development and youth projects for CSR roadmap
» Indonesia Red Cross Society’s organizational development, health and disaster management updates for CSR roadmap
» Lao Red Cross’ contributions to CSR roadmap|
» Malaysia Red Crescent Society towards CSR roadmap
» Singapore Red Cross Society’s community-led action for resilience
» Thai Red Cross Society’s disaster management and health updates for CSR roadmap

ASEAN engagement
» Red Cross and Red Crescent societies’ technical engagement with ASEAN: Milestones since the last CSC Forum in August 2015
» Working with ASEAN: Towards emerging IFRC’s strategy for engagement
Global agendas
» IFRC and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR)
» IFRC’s contributions to Social Development Goals (SDGs)
» Post-2015 regional and global agendas and IFRC
» Translating global agendas in South-East Asia
» South-East Asian National Societies’ global agenda mapping
» [Outcome document] South-East Asia global agendas engagement plans
Day 2
» Disaster crisis and response principles and rules for Red Cross Red Crescent

1 billion coalition for resilience
» 1 billion coalition for resilience
» 1bc working group 1
» 1bc working group 2
» 1bc working group 3
Site visit
» Field visit to Malaysia Social Welfare Department
» Malaysia Red Crescent Society’s Home for the Homeless programme
Thematic session
» Integrated school safety approach
» Sustainability of National Societies
» [Outcome document] Gender and diversity working group report
Day 3
» CSR Forum roadmap session
» Key messages from the global platform for disaster risk reduction
» Factsheet for Disaster Risk Reduction mapping, 2016
» [Outcome document] CSR roadmap for regional cooperation 2016-2020

Disaster Law Field School | 24-27 April 2017 | Sydney, Australia
2017-04-24 - 2017-04-27
Three Regional Resilience Initiative (RRI) countries (Myanmar, Laos and Indonesia) have been identified for participation in the Disaster Law Field School to be held in Sydney, Australia from 24–27 April 2017. The country delegations will comprise of representatives from the National Societies and National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs). Representatives from ASEAN will also attend. In total, there will be 11 participants funded from the RRI to attend, also including 2 colleagues from the Canadian Red Cross’ legal and Disaster Management (DM) domestic departments in Ottawa, Canada.
The field school will be a mix of theory and scenario based learning. It will provide an overview of the key international and regional legal and policy frameworks for disaster risk management as well as best practice of national and local level implementation into law and policy. Additionally, it will provide a platform to highlight the important auxiliary role of Red Cross and Red Crescent across the disaster risk management spectrum. The programme will explore legal issues related to preparedness, response, risk reduction, and recovery. Cross-cutting issues such as gender, protection and inclusion, including displacement and climate change adaptation will be considered and addressed throughout every phase of the field school, including how to strengthen approaches in, policy and practice.
The Disaster Law Field School objectives:

Provide an overview of the key international and regional legal and policy frameworks for disaster risk management, including best practice on national and local level implementation of the various agendas.
Explore how law and policy across the disaster risk management spectrum, from preparedness, risk reduction, response and recovery, need to be developed and implemented to ensure words translate into local level action.
Ensure cross-cutting issues such as gender, protection and inclusion, including displacement and climate change adaptation will be considered and addressed throughout every phase of the field school, including how to strengthen approaches in policy and practice.
Ensure implementation of theory into practice through simulation and scenario based work;
Further develop legislative advocacy skills among participants to ensure disaster risk management is seen as priority for action among decision makers and opinion leaders in the region.
Encourage participants to undertake an analysis of their own domestic frameworks and develop plans of action for their strengthening, utilising key disaster law tools and guides;

Related documents:

Concept note
Agenda
Participant list
Field school report

See also the related story at http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/disaster-law/news/asia-pacific/back-to-school-on-disaster-law-in-asia-pacific-73935/

Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT) training | 24 April-1 May 2017 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2017-04-24 - 2017-05-01
The Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT) training was organized by ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA) Centre and 2 seats were secured for National Societies. IFRC was also requested to support on the organization of the simulation exercise as part of the training. Technical meetings with IFRC regional office in Kuala Lumpur were also organized, taking the opportunity of the presence of key AHA Centre colleagues.
The main objective of the 7th ASEAN-ERAT Induction Course was to prepare regional responders to have experience in emergency management and coordination, also to enable them to respond towards major disasters in the ASEAN region. Participants of the course were representatives from ASEAN Member States, AADMER Partnership Group, partner organisations, ASEAN Secretariat and the AHA Centre.
Read more on AHA centre news at http://ahacentre.org/news/7th-asean-erat-induction-course/

Community-based disaster risk reduction training | 27 April 2017 | Angthong, Thailand
2017-04-27
trcs-angthong-training-april2017
Red Cross background introduction by a Red Cross Volunteer in Angthong province. Photo by Thai Red Cross Society

trcs-angthong-training-april2017-2
Vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA) practice by women group. Photo by Thai Red Cross Society

Under USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) is one component (as a sub-project) which is implemented by Thai Red Cross Society (TRCS). The CBDRR project is to strengthen capacity of community members to be ready in responding to disasters. In addition, the CBDRR process will cover the disaster circle from preparedness, response and recovery.
TRCS conducted the training for community leaders from 4 communities in Angthong province on 27 April 2017. There were 18 males and 20 females participated in this training. The training focused on Red Cross background, disaster knowledge, vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA) tools and VCA practice.

17th South-East Asia Youth Network Online Meeting | 27 April 2017
2017-04-27
17th Southeast Asia Youth Network (SEAYN) online meeting was held on 27 April 2017 with attendance of 10 participants from 8 National Societies (NS).
The agenda was as follows (See online meeting agenda for details):
1) Cooperation with Plan International; Youth Digital System was presented by Plan international 2) Asia-Pacific Youth Network (APYN) Work Plan 2017-2018
3) 5th SEAYN Annual Meeting outline
4) Community Safety and Resilience Forum (CSRF) outcome
5) NS updates on Youth in School Safety (YSS) implementation, and School Safety mapping updates
The Digital Officer of Plan International was invited as a guest speaker and presented about the youth employment ecosystem run by Plan International. It was decided to have a brainstorm among the members to collaborate with Plan International to initiate the future’s youth employment programme. The 5th SEAYN annual meeting will be held in the Philippines in September. This online meeting took place after the online coordination team meeting on 11 April 2017.

Viet Nam Red Cross Society celebrates World Red Cross Red Crescent Day
2017-05-07
On 7 May 2017, the Viet Nam Red Cross Society organized celebration and blood donation day on the occasion of World Red Cross Red Crescent Day. Representatives from partner National Societies, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), government agencies as well as Viet Nam Red Cross staff and volunteers from the headquarters and Hanoi Chapter attended the event.
Speaking at the event, President Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu noted that in 2016, the National Society implemented 35 development and humanitarian projects with VND 117 billion (USD 5,153,850) supported by international partners, with 66 percent of which came from Movement partners. In recent years, the Viet Nam Red Cross Society has continually sought to improve and innovate its approaches, for example, the SMS fundraising campaign for cow bank programme, which won the Asia Pacific Fundraising Network award in 2014.

Myanmar Celebrates World Red Cross Day Ceremony as Union Level | 8 May 2017 | Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
2017-05-08 08:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Krasnoyarsk)
Myanmar Celebrates World Cross Day Ceremony as Union Level 2017_3

Myanmar Celebrates World Cross Day Ceremony as Union Level 2017_2

Myanmar Celebrates World Cross Day Ceremony as Union Level 2017_1
Myanmar Celebrates World Cross Day Ceremony as Union Level 2017_1

World Red Cross Day ceremony was celebrated at Myanmar International Convention Center II, Naypyitaw and the Patron of Myanmar Red Cross Society, Union President U Htin Kyaw addressed the audience in the ceremony.
The Union President of Myanmar, H.E U Htin Kyaw, Union Ministers and Vice Ministers of respective Ministries, Chairman of Nay Pyi Taw Council and representatives, Honorary President Professor Dr. Tha Hla Shwe, President Professor Dr. Daw Mya Thu, executive committee members, Central Council members, Chairmen of State and Region Red Cross Supervisory Committees, Red Cross Brigade members, representatives from International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and partner National Societies, special guests, donors, volunteers and staffs, about 400 people attended the ceremony.
The Union President, H.E U Htin Kyaw affirmed “Also with increased occurrences of disasters, the Myanmar Red Cross Society needs to redouble its efforts in providing first aid, disaster preparedness, responses and disaster risk reduction activities. We are aware that the Myanmar Red Cross Society alone cannot meet the humanitarian needs of the people in time of natural calamities or disasters. Concerted efforts have to be rendered by the government, people, civil society organizations, and humanitarian organizations to help those who are in need.”
“Moreover, the Myanmar Red Cross Society can help trained communities to be disaster resilient and the government, on its part, will be providing necessary assistance through its line ministries”, he added.
Since its inception from the battlefield of Solferino in 1859, the Red Cross has been actively carrying out humanitarian work all over the world for all the people in need regardless of their nationality, religion, political opinion. The International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement is the world’s biggest humanitarian network and providing humanitarian assistance to those who need according to the Red Cross principles: Impartiality and Neutrality.
Every year, around the world, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and 190 National Red Cross/ Red Crescent Societies provide the humanitarian assistances for more than 160 million people through its network of around 17 million volunteers and 450,000 staffs.
Myanmar Red Cross Society was established since 1920. Over 44,000 Red Cross volunteers provide humanitarian aid to more than 500,000 people, building safer and stronger communities through a diverse and innovative range of services tailored to local needs. From Community Based Health and First Aid Programme, Building Community Resilience Programme, Hpa-an Orthopedics Rehabilitation Centre, Restoring Family Links services, Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery Programmes, the Myanmar Red Cross Society provides these services through the tireless dedication of its volunteers.
“World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, 8 May, is an opportunity to recognize the contribution and achievements of the millions of volunteers and staff members around the world who are keeping our commitment to humanity every day – by making the last mile effort to ensure that no one is left behind. In complex contexts with increasing vulnerabilities, our ability to access people in need is constantly changing. But our volunteers and staffs are finding creative and innovative ways to adapt local solutions to reach people in need and help them prepare for dealing with and recover from these challenges,” said Professor Dr. Daw Mya Thu, the President of Myanmar Red Cross Society.
The theme of 2017 World Red Cross Day is “Everywhere for Everyone.” Myanmar Red Cross Society commits to maintain the momentum of good work and success that it has achieved to continue striving for improvement and betterment to help the people according to their needs and to thrive as community based humanitarian organization by promoting the role of youth, the role of people living with disabilities and empowering women.

Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) research – Initial training for the field research | 9-14 May 2017 | Lao PDR
2017-05-09 - 2017-05-14
The initial trainings for the field research on sexual and gender-based violence took place on from 9-14 May 2017 in Lao PDR. As part of this research project, all data collection teams have to be trained for six days. The trainings include sensitization on sexual and gender-based violence issues, introduction to the questionnaire and focus-group discussions (FGDs) and multiple practice sessions to ensure that the research is carried out in an ethical, safe and confidential manner.
The training was six days long with a series of debrief meetings on the seventh day.

Key sessions included:
1) An overview of what SGBV is, how it is different during disasters and how to define specific types of SGBV, including sexual violence, domestic violence, early/forced marriage and child sexual abuse. The multi-sectoral response for a survivor was also explained and reviewed. Participants were tested on their knowledge through a series of quizzes and case scenarios, including the gallery walk.
2) Detailed overview of the guiding principles, an ethical approach to data collection and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. The same key messages were reviewed every day during the training, including:
– gender inequality is the root cause of SGBV
– Putting the survivor at the center through the guiding principles: Safety, Confidentiality, Respect and Non-discrimination
– Definitions of SGBV
– Code of conduct during fieldwork
– Stress management for the data collection team
3) An in depth session on key sections of the fieldwork manual for data collectors, including duties and responsibilities of each team member, explanation of the full questionnaire and the rationale behind each question, explanation of the Focus Group Discussions, review of keeping safe in the field and how to implement the guiding principles of safety, confidentiality, respect and non-discrimination during interviews. Each team member had to sign a pledge of confidentiality and ethics and the Lao Red Cross child protection policy.
4) An overview of the open data kit (ODK), what it can and cannot do in the area of information management and how to use the hand held devices. This is also a key area in the fieldwork manual. Field supervisors also had an additional orientation session in which they learned how to manage the devices, including charging the phones, uploading of forms and how to review forms at the end of the day for mistakes.
5) Sharing of cultural considerations by the field supervisors coming from the Oudomxay and Sekong provinces on cultural practices and traditions the data collectors may have to face during field work. The most disaster affected villages include a number of different ethnic groups, who speak different language and have unique cultural rituals.
6) Two Lao Government representatives, one from the National Commission on the Advancement for Women (NCAW) and the National Statistics Bureau, shared their experience of working on the UNFPA supported 2014 National Level Prevalence Survey on Violence Against Women and Girls. This session reviewed the most important Do’s and Don’ts for the data collectors in the field (please see checklist below) and also gave further insight on how the field supervisors can finalize their fieldwork plan and do effective household respondent selection.
Supporting Documents
» Agenda
» Dos and Don’ts – Field data-collector checklist for research on sexual and gender-based violence in disasters

IFRC as panelist in Asia-Pacific Youth, Peace and Security Consultation Forum
2017-05-16 - 2017-05-19
40 youth from 20 countries joined the Asia-Pacific Youth, Peace and Security Consultation Forum, hosted by UNDP and UNFPA, on 16-19 May 2017, to engage in deep discussion on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) for the first time in Asia-Pacific region. Over 20 partners ranging from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), UN Agencies and donor governments came to learn more and interact with the 2250 agenda through the youth’s perspectives.
IFRC’s Youth and Volunteering Officer, Ms. Kum Jo Ho, was one of the panelists in the Asia-Pacific Youth, Peace, Security Consultation Forum as a panelist by presenting IFRC’s activities on youth engagement into peace-building actions.
The youth, as the key panelists, received introductory substantive Insider Mediation Training through Clingendael Institute and IFRC and also joined a Facebook live discussion which has received around 75,000 views, 425 likes and 80 shares raising awareness of the importance of youth agents in peace and security. View the Facebook live discussion here. More importantly youth needs and how youth could work with them to ensure that youth are a part of our peace and security plans in Asia-Pacific region are heard. After this event, UNDP invited IFRC to be a panelist in the South-South Exchange Volunteerism Forum to be held on 20-23 June 2017.
To read more:

Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security [link to external site]
Asia-Pacific Youth, Peace, Security – A Regional Consultation Terms of Reference
Asia-Pacific Youth, Peace, Security – A Regional Consultation Agenda

Steering Committee Meeting for the Regional Resilience Initiative (RRI) | 17 May 2017 | Jakarta, Indonesia
2017-05-17 08:00 - 17:00
The annual Steering Committee Meeting for the Regional Resilience Initiative (RRI) was held in Jakarta on 17 May 2017. The objective of the meeting was to review the second year of implementation of the initiative and to discuss among partners the proposed Work Plan for the fourth year of the project. | See agenda and participant list | Minutes of the meeting

Below are presentations delivered during the meeting:

Overview of project achievements from annual work plan year 3 – April 2016 to March 2017
Overview of the fourth annual work plan (year 4) – April 2017 to March 2018

The meeting approved the below four technical Work Plans covering the period April 2017 to March 2018:

Humanitarian Diplomacy and Communications
Disaster Law
Gender and Diversity
Community Safety and Resilience

The documents were produced based on the in-country plans received from 9 National Societies in Southeast Asia as well as technical dialogue between related IFRC and National Societies’ focal points.

About Regional Resilience Initiative (RRI)

Supported by the Canadian Government and Canadian Red Cross, the Regional Resilience Initiative (RRI) seeks to further contribute to reducing the impact of natural disasters on vulnerable communities in Southeast Asia. The four-year initiative (2014-2018) is supporting the 11 Red Cross / Red Crescent Societies in the region. The focus is on enhancing the skills and capacities of National Societies so they can advocate more strongly at a national and regional level for the needs of communities in disaster risk reduction. This is complemented by the strengthening of regional partnerships, both within our networks and with key partners such as the ASEAN Secretariat and other bodies.

Asia Pacific Disaster Law Programme Participates in Oxfam Peer to Peer (P2P) Journey Learning Conference | 17-18 May 2017
2017-05-17 08:00 - 2017-05-18 17:00
Asia Pacific Disaster Law Programme Participates in Oxfam Peer to Peer (P2P) Journey Learning Conference
The IFRC Disaster Law Programme participated in ASEAN-OXFAM’s P2P Journey Learning Conference last May 17-18 to share some of its experiences in peer learning activities, as part of its core function as a network of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Learning Conference is the culmination of the project’s mapping of DRM peer to peer platforms in ASEAN and a showcase of peer learning case studies implemented in Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar. Peer learning activities fall under the AADMER (see AADMER Work Programme) Priority Programme 3 “Advance”, which ensures that “robust and accountable information sharing platforms and their interoperability across different tiers of government and communities, together with traditional and non- traditional platforms, will be in place.”
Oxfam had invited the IFRC Disaster Law Programme to present on the Regional Resilience Initiative (RRI), focusing on RRI’s disaster law component and how it has helped bring the voice of the community to the decision-making table. The presentation highlighted that the IFRC and Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have been doing peer to peer learning activities for a long time as it is how the Movement is built – through our wide network in different countries. IFRC also facilitated group sessions to discuss the importance of law and policy in achieving resilience goals.
Read more about on this link (to ifrc.org)

Community Engagement and Accountability training | 18-21 May | Bangkok
2017-05-18 08:00 - 2017-05-21 17:00
First Community Engagement and Accountability training organized in Asia Pacific

Between 18 and 21 May 2017, the IFRC and ICRC jointly organized the first Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) training in Asia Pacific for National Society, partner National Societies IFRC and ICRC staff in the region. This was the first training to utilize the pilot CEA guide which was finalized in February 2017, CEA toolkit and training package.
Over the course of the four intensive days, participants familiarized themselves with the theory and the practice of how to integrate CEA within the Red Cross and Red Crescent programme cycle during emergency operations, longer-term protracted crisis, both in contexts of natural disasters and armed conflict, as well as development programs.
Following the training, some participants also attended the global forum by the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities network. The event was attended by over 100 representatives from NGOs and iNGOs, government, donor and the private sector.

Resources from the training:

CEA Guide
CEA Toolkit
National Society’s CEA work:

Community Engagement and Accountability Minimum Standards: formulation and integration into the work of the Myanmar Red Cross
Myanmar Red Cross (MRCS): Community Engagement and Accountability Minimum Standards & Key Actions

For more information on the CEA training, please visit the training website: https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/meetings-and-events/cea-meeting/
Please visit the following link to read the CDAC Policy Paper on Collective Models: http://www.cdacnetwork.org/tools-and-resources/i/20170531072915-3fs0r
The participants of the Red Cross and Red Crescent CEA Facebook Group are encouraged to continue the knowledge exchange through: https://www.facebook.com/groups/587239731349669/

Gender and Diversity approaches to Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) field school | 21-26 May 2017 | Ayutthaya, Thailand
2017-05-21 - 2017-05-26
A six-day Field School on Gender and Diversity in Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments was co-organized by the IFRC Bangkok Country Cluster Support team and Thai Red Cross Society between 21-26th May. This Field School is part of a wider, global effort to ensure the integration of gender and diversity in Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (VCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction process for National Societies. The training was held in Ayutthaya and Sing Buri province in Thailand and was attended by six National Societies including Thai Red Cross Society, Lao Red Cross, Cambodian Red Cross, Philippine Red Cross, Malaysian Red Crescent, Nepal Red Cross, three Partner National Society representatives from American Red Cross (Vietnam), French Red Cross (Vietnam) and Australian Red Cross (Philippines), and the IFRC. The Field School was structured around in-class training and field visits to a nearby community. The community chosen experiences recurring flooding every year between August and November and have been working with the Thai Red Cross through their Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction Programme, to identify and reduce risk, and enhance coping strategies for all in their community.
Through a series of interactive sessions and participatory-based information gathering in the field, participants to the Field School addressed the importance of gender and diversity in VCA approaches, considering the differences of needs and priorities, vulnerabilities and capacities from different groups to ensure we ‘leave no one behind’ during our planning and assessment processes. The ultimate goal, to achieve greater individual and community resilience . Mrs. Dujdao Pengpak, 42, Village Head said “It was a good experience to exchange knowledge on the areas such as disaster prevention and I learned a lot especially in improving our old ways [of dealing with disasters] and making our community more resilient.”
Click here to read “Helping villages in Thailand improve their old ways” – a story on this VCA field school, on IFRC website
Supporting Documents
» Agenda of the field school
» Concept Note
» Participant List
» Guidance Note: Gender and Diversity-Sensitive VCA
Supporting Resources
» Case Study: Mainstreaming Gender and Diversity in Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives
» IFRC Strategic framework on gender and diversity – 2013 to 2020
» Infographic: A call to action: Preventing and Responding to Gender-based Violence (GBV) in disasters
» Minimum standard commitments to gender and diversity in emergency programming
» Snapshot: Focus on Gender and Diversity in Disaster Risk Reduction
» Unseen, Unheard: Gender-based Violence in Disasters – Asia-Pacific case studies
Outcome Documents
» Report
» Pre- and Post-Test results
» Trees as results of the brainstorming session
» For more information on VCA, go to VCA webpage at IFRC’s online library
» For more information on community resilience, go to:
» YouTube video: Roadmap to Community Resilience by IFRC
» Publication: Roadmap to Community Resilience: A step-by-step guidance on how to operationalize the IFRC’s Framework for Community Resilience (FCR).
Presentations
Day 1 and 2
» Introduction to Community Resilience and VCA Approach
» Gender and Diversity in VCA
» [Quiz Handout] Gender, Diversity and Violence
Day 3
» Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) by Thai Red Cross Society

Communicating with Disaster-Affected Communities (CDAC) Forum | 22-23 May 2017 | Bangkok, Thailand
2017-05-22 - 2017-05-23
The Communicating with Disaster-Affected Communities (CDAC) global forum on ‘The authenticity challenge to the Participation Revolution’ was held on 22-23 May 2017, back-to-back with the Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) training (taking place 18-21 May).
The CDAC Network is a growing platform of more than 30 humanitarian, media development, social innovation, technology, and telecommunication organisations, dedicated to saving lives and making aid more effective through communication, information exchange and community engagement.
The forum allowed IFRC and National Societies to be present and showcase some of the most innovative approaches.
See the agenda and resource Authenticity and ‘Participation Revolution’

First Aid Training for Grab Taxi Drivers | May 2017 | Bangkok, Thailand
2017-05-30
There were two basic First Aid training courses conducted for 32 Grab taxi drivers in Chiang Mai and in Bangkok in May 2017. In Chiang Mai Province, there were 18 Grab car drivers participating in the first aid training organized on 16 May 2017 (male 16 , female 2). Meanwhile, in Bangkok, there were 14 Grab taxies, Grab cars , and Grab bikes attending the said basic first aid training on 30 May 2017 (male 13, female 1). There were 6 key topics focusing on both theory and practical sessions related to basic standard first aid for wounds, choking , stroke, heart diseases, CPR-cardiopulmonary resuscitation and referral and transportation to hospitals by three first aid instructors/ specialists from Training Centre of First Aid and Health Care, Thai Red Cross Society and hosted by GRAB Thailand.
In this year 2017, there will be 11-12 basic first aid training courses as planned. “It is expected that over 300-350 Grab drivers will be equipped and capable to help the victims on the road and to save lives for those in need”, said Mr. Niwattana Assawarakse, Grab Thailand coordinator. For more information, please contact Mr. Niwattana Assawarakse, email: niwattana.as@grabtaxi.com and Dr. Pornsak Khortwong, IFRC Health Officer, email: pornsak.khortwong@ifrc.org.
