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

80International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent SocietiesVCA will involve setting up a local structure to make sure thateverything functions according to plan; a formal society-widestructure will not necessarily be required once VCA has beenaccepted and integrated into National Society programming.The hope is that your National Society – and indeed other organisations– will view VCA as an important process which linkslocal projects to global programmes, whilst providing a practicalmeans of reducing risk in the most vulnerable communities.In most countries, government has the overall responsibility fordisaster management, in which the Red Cross Red Crescent isone of the player, though an important one. Having governmentsupport will strengthen the credibility of the VCA.KeymessageAdvocacy for risk reduction on the basisof a convincing VCA is an importantfollow-up responsibility of the NationalSociety – with support from theInternational Federation at regionaland international levels.Sharing the outcome of VCA with the International Federationthrough its regional delegations, as well as with various organizationsand government authorities, will enable others to learn fromyour experiences and serve to systematize best practices.In turn, organizations working in community-based disastermanagement may not only be interested in results, but also withyour knowledge and skills in VCA – for example, to providetraining for their own staff and volunteers.This will indeed be a true measure of your success and the leadershipthat you would have acquired in working effectively toenhance local capacities in risk reduction.