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Advocacy and Preparedness Initiative 2002 - Manual Development and Training Activities

 

The years 2000 and 2001 had proven a watershed in terms of Save the Children interventions in the Emergency sector in Vietnam.  Both in terms of technical capacity and experience, Save the Children had grown tremendously, as programming had also evolved from relief activities in the wake of the disaster in 2000 to include rapid relief activities in 2001.  Save the Children's global emphasis on advocacy, and the recommendations of the final assessment of the 2001 floods, it was observed that there was a strong, unmet need for advocacy and preparedness in emergency response.

 

The EWG developed a plan to create a manual on Child-Focused situation analyses used to train key decision makers at the province and district level on the specific rights, needs, and vulnerabilities of children in emergencies.  The document is expected to be a significant contribution to the literature on child rights in emergencies, particularly on the issue of child participation.  In addition, it will be one of the first technical documents to focus on specific evaluation issues relating to children in specific disaster contexts.

 

To make the manual complementary to existing materials, to access existing expertise, and to increase the advocacy impact of the materials, Save the Children partnered with key nation-wide emergency organizations; the Vietnam Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Disaster Management Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (DMC), and the Committee for Population, Family, and Children (CPFC).  In addition to increasing the profile of the manual, it was anticipated that involving these key players in the writing of the manuals would increase their ownership of the document as key stakeholders, thereby exposing them and committing them to improved child-focused preparedness.  Given their extensive activities and financial resources in this domain at a national level, it is hoped that this will significantly increase future emergency responses throughout the country.

 

This manual is still being developed, and it is anticipated that a first draft will be ready by the end of 2002.  While some private funds are available for the initial training, Save the Children has also applied for funds to conduct training in 8 provinces nationwide.  In addition, several other countries' programs have expressed interest in this manual, and Save the Children will be sharing it's experience with other countries as the program unfolds.