SOURCE: Sustainable Development

NGOS
Capacity building is central
to what the humanitarian
sector is, to the role of
NGOs, to the saving and
improvement of lives
around the world.
the response to Typhoon Haiyan, which
struck the Philippines on 8th-9th November
2013. Haiyan killed more than 7,400
people, injured 20,000 and left four million
homeless. It inspired a unified response,
as the public funded INGOs to deliver
shelter, WASH (water, sanitation and
hygiene) materials, food, water and technical
assistance, while the state’s government and
national NGOs met the crises the Typhoon
had caused (see panel box-out, p46).
RedR UK trained 577 people, 98 per
cent of them Philippine nationals, who were
employed by large international and local
NGOs, as well as government workers and
community members. In one project, Build
Back Stronger, we worked with Oxfam and
Philippine organisation Green Mindanao
to develop and deliver training to people in
how to rebuild their homes and community
structures to better withstand future disaster.
And those skills are transferable. The 16
people we trained spread the knowledge
they had gained to 4,000 households, and it
can be shared further, building the capacity
of communities to mitigate against future
disaster. A similar ‘domino effect’ was used
to spread skills and expertise in Haiti, in the
aftermath of the devastating earthquake
in January 2010, which killed more than
200,000 people.
One part of our skills-based training there
took the form of a WASH week, in which
local aid workers were given core water,
sanitation and hygiene training in Port
Au Prince, where more than one million
people had been left homeless. In total,
1,439 people received WASH training, each
training 30 more, meaning the skills reached
more than 43,000 people.
At RedR UK, we use the slogan We
Train Lifesavers. There are many ways to
save lives, but capacity building – spreading
knowledge and delivering skills to help
people respond to and mitigate against
disaster – is a central component of that.
If the humanitarian sector is dedicated
to saving and improving lives, then building
capacity is one of the most vital and
appropriate roles NGOs can play. ■
For more information about RedR and its work,
see www.redr.org.uk.
Success story: school safety training in Pakistan
“I have been taught that if I see a person unconscious
I should remove anything dangerous and
check if they are breathing, and clear the airway
then check the circulation by checking their
pulse. I will then put them in the recovery position
and wait for help to arrive...” Sawera Saad*
is eight-years-old. She attends school in a village
in Lower Dir region, Pakistan, where natural and
man-made disasters are a real risk.
She has already experienced serious flooding
in her home town, and also faces risk simply
because she attends school, as illegal militia
organisations operating in the region oppose the
education of girls, as well as the employment of
female teachers. As a result, she and her classmates
brave potential attack by going to school.
RedR UK is training teachers who can show
girls like Sawera, as well as boys, teachers and
community members, how to reduce risk,
perform first aid and give them other potentially
life-saving skills. Asma, an English teacher at
another school, says: “First aid saves life. I have
taught the children and other teachers how to
stop bleeding, deal with burns and poisoning.
We learned how to stop fires, and what to do
if the school comes under gunfire and attack.
We have taught children to take cover under
desks, or if they are outside to run inside into the
classrooms.”
Pakistani
schoolchildren
learn first aid as
part of RedR’s Safer
Schools initiative.
RedR UK, with local partner Khwendo Kor,
trained 18 teachers in the Lower Dir region. In
turn, they have trained 551 pupils, and another
46 teachers (who will in turn train their students).
The skills they have learned will be taught to each
new intake of pupils, meaning many thousands
of young people will have the knowledge and
ability to reduce risk, and save lives.
And girls like Sawera are sharing the knowledge
they have learned. She said: “My mother
learned how to tie a bandage from me, and was
very happy that she could do it all by herself.”
*Names changed to protect those interviewed
First aid training taking place as part of RedR’s
Safer Schools initiative in Pakistan.
DONNA BOZZI/REDR, WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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