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The frequency and intensity of natural disasters worldwide is rising. If the current trend continues, in the next four years the number of people affected by disasters will soar from an average of 250 million, to 375 million a year. Without further investment in disaster relief training, we will face a shortage of relief workers who are able to respond to communities in crisis.
In 2010 nearly 300,000 people lost their lives in 950 natural disasters across the world. In all of these disasters, the first people to respond were the people who live in the country affected. During the weeks and months that followed, these same people – whether experienced aid workers or not – played a key role in response efforts. And in the years of recovery that will follow the Pakistan floods and the Haiti earthquake, it is local people who will continue to rebuild their communities.
With the support of companies, in particular RedR Patrons, the organisation was able to scale up its operations to respond immediately to the rapid onset of emergencies in both Pakistan and Haiti, and provide disaster relief training to local relief workers.
In Pakistan, RedR trained 425 relief workers in the first four months after the flooding, covering key response areas such as humanitarian practice and principles, safety and security, humanitarian coordination and capacity building.
Through RedR’s programme in Haiti more than 1,000 relief workers were trained in vital humanitarian skills including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), shelter, supply chain and fleet management, safety and security, and telecommunications.
In both Pakistan and Haiti more than 90% of the trainees were national aid workers, working for a variety of aid agencies including ActionAid, World Vision, Save the Children and the World Food Programme, as well as many national NGOs.
Building the professional skills to respond to immediate and future disasters
Titus Prince, RedR trainee and Field Coordinator for national NGO Sungi Development Foundation, was one of the first relief workers to respond to the Pakistan floods.
“Just after attending RedR’s Essentials of Humanitarian Practice (EHP) training in July we were immediately deputed to the field to respond to the floods crisis,” Titus says. “The RedR training has helped us to deliver a higher quality of assistance. The course increased my knowledge about various ethical standards and international laws and enabled me to plan a comprehensive and coordinated response for my organisation.”
Titus was part of an emergency response team providing relief items and food to 8,400 people, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes targeting 16,800 people in Rajanpur, southern Punjab.
“From the RedR training we knew exactly the daily calorie guide from ‘Sphere’- internationally recognised minimum standards in disaster response - in order to design ample food package for a family,” Titus explains. “Following Sphere Standards, we established latrines taking into account the distance from the dwellings, and gender issues like privacy for females. We were able to ensure that the affected people are getting good quality clean drinking water in accordance with the Sphere Standards.
Developing the skills of local relief workers not only increases the effectiveness of immediate disaster response but it also means that those skills remain in-country longer-term, enabling communities in disaster-prone areas to prepare for, and cushion the impact of future disasters.
“RedR trainings have a long-term impact on the humanitarian sector as more humanitarians will be able to deliver high quality assistance to the affected people,” Titus says. “RedR is bringing a change to the sector to professionalise it more, in order to improve the lives of people affected by disasters.”
In 2011, with the support of companies, RedR Patrons, and the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, RedR will continue to help communities affected by disasters by providing vital relief training to local aid workers in Pakistan and Sudan through its permanent country programmes, and worldwide in response to on-going and future disasters.
RedR will also continue take a leading role in professionalising the humanitarian sector, and aims to build on its international training capacity by establishing additional country programmes in key priority areas in East Africa.
With the number of disasters worldwide increasing, there is an urgent need to equip more local people with the vital know-how to respond to emergencies in their own backyards, as soon as they happen.
On the 18 February 2011, companies worldwide will be wearing red in support of RedR. Please consider joining this campaign to raise awareness and vital funds for RedR’s work. Contact rose.papararo@redr.org.uk.
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