How to do VCA? - International Federation of Red Cross and Red ...

20International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesKeymessageVCA’s potential as well as its limitationsmust be communicated to the communities:transparency is vital and one of the mostimportant things to keep in mindthroughout the process.Red Cross or Red Crescent branches must also be clear aboutwhat they can offer and what is beyond their capacity (and mayrequire intervention from others). For this reason, strategic partnershipswith other organizations should be developed before theassessment begins, in order to address outstanding issues identifiedby communities or to advocate with government for changes.The role that VCA plays in programme planning must alsobe clear from the begining. Gathering information and then notdoing anything with it serves no purpose. It is crucial tounderstand that VCA is a methodology and not a programme orisolated activity.Once information from the VCA is systematized and analysed, itsrelevance to the planning process will become clear. NationalSocieties will be able to see how VCA fits into the assessmentprocess and how assessment in turn forms part of the projectcycle, as shown in Figure 3.Figure 3The planning cycle: assessment