Integrated Program for Community Development (IPCD)

Integreated Program for Community Development is a post-tsunami development program of the Indian Red Cross Society implemented in 29 villages and 79 schools in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and Kanyakumari districts with the support of the Canadian Red Cross.

Health/WatSan sector highlights:

During April 2011, health check-ups for the children in IPCD crèche was given attention to. Regular health check up for the creche children is important to ensure that the children are healthy and their development is proper. Through this health initiative the children are not only protected from childhood diseases, they are also being brought closer to the Government Health services.

Therefore, health checks up for creche childern were conducted in six IPCD creches from Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur distrticts. The Medical Officers from nearby Government primary health centres visited to the creches and examined the child growth & development, their behavioral aspects, and any disease. Overall, 185 children received health care services from these health check ups. The parents of crèche children appreciated the initiative which further brought wider publicity and goodwill to Red Cross.

II. Disaster Risk Reduction Sector

Training on Tracing during natural Disaster:

One-day training on “Tracing during Natural Disaster” was imparted to 40 Red Cross volunteers/disaster management task force members (DMTF) of the Integrated Program for Community Development (IPCD), operational areas of Thanjavur and Kanyakumari districts.

In this induction training, the Disaster Management (DM) Task Force members were oriented on Red Cross (RC) Movement, Fundamental Principles, RC tracing services, how to fill Red Cross Message (RCM) and Tracing Request, techniques to provide psychosocial support to the members of displaced / separated families.

The participants were also trained on how to cater to the need of tracing during natural disasters. Practical sessions and role play methods were adopted to keep the training more participatory and help learning by doing. These trained volunteers would be in regular touch with local Red Cross branches and play vital role in tracing activities during emergencies.

With this training we have realized that the role of volunteers in tracing during natural disaster and connecting themselves with the local RC branches not only can help and build-up psychosocial support to the members of displaced families, but can also help in various other ways’ said a participant during the training.

* CDG- RL Community Development Groups for Restoring Livelihoods

Training on Networking and Coordination to village volunteers

Disaster management is a multifaceted task and every disaster response and risk reduction efforts at grassroots level demands partnership and coordination with different stakeholders. Considering this, a one-day training with the objective of strengthening the capacities of Village Disaster Management Teams (VDMT) and enhancing their understanding on the significance of networking and coordination with different stakeholders was organized in 13 IPCD operational villages of Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Kanyakumari districts. A total of 210 VDMT members participated in this training.

Through this training the participants were educated on how to establish link with different stakeholders for DM/DRR activities, understand grassroots level DRR concerns and identify and tap the resources for DRR initiatives in their communities. Participants were also trained on how to mobilize their own capacities and resources to initiate disaster mitigation activities in their community.

As an output of the training the participants came up with an action plan to initiate networking and coordination at different levels to undertake various disaster mitigation activities which were identified during vulnerability and capacity assessment exercise which was undertaken by Red Cross in a couple of months back.

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