Strengthening community resilience and risk management in vulnerable urban communities in Venezuela

Brief Description

This project will contribute to building community-based resilience in 5 vulnerable urban neighbourhoods in El Tigre (Anzoátegui), Valencia (Carabobo), Coro (Falcon), Barquisimeto (Lara) and Mérida (Mérida).

Led by the IFRC in close coordination with the Venezuelan Red Cross (VRC), 5 comprehensive health community brigades (CHCB) will be trained and equipped to implement risk reduction actions that respond to the current risks in these locations within a complex national situation. Specific emphasis will be made on personal safety in a context as Venezuela reports a high level of common violence and economic inflation that place the uninterrupted provision of basic health services at risk. As a central component, VRC will be supported to ensure that its volunteers and the community health brigades understand and implement standard Federation methodology of Stay Safe procedures and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Safer Access framework, as well as the central components of these planned actions.

The CHCB will be established based on community-level organization through training sessions in comprehensive health that integrates pre-hospital care with DRR, to create and implement efficient local early-warning systems, using the appropriate tools, equipment and materials. These CHCB will become competent and active stakeholders in disaster prevention and preparedness; early warning systems; basic sanitation, integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI), prevention of STI and HIV-AIDS, teenage pregnancy and prevalent epidemiology diseases (dengue, chikungunya, cholera). Moreover, with the trained CHCB, the IFRC will contribute to strengthening the capacity of the VRC to unify criteria with other humanitarian actors in the country, thus fortifying community resilience beyond the 5 selected communities.

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