2nd Participatory Training On Emergency Preparedness And Response

Through December 20-22, 2010 the continuation of the basic training on Emergency Preparedness and Response was held in the framework of ART “Organizational Capacity Development” Phase 2 project supported by ACT Alliance with participation of its partners representing Churches, church related structures and civil society organizations.
Taking into account the positive experience and feedback of the partnering organizations regarding the relevance and urgency of Disaster Preparedness and response and Risk Reduction programmes in Armenia, ART increased the number of institutions participating in the 2nd training.
The workshop was conducted by Hamlet Matevosyan, the rector, and Rudik Alaverdyan, a professor of Crisis Management State Academy.
The goal of the workshop was to strengthen the capacities of the participants for further effective and productive work in the communities.
Aiming to raise awareness and improve knowledge of ART partners and introduce the concepts of the field, from the very beginning the training was designed and applied participatory and inter-active mode of conduct. All the participants were involved and enthusiastically contributed to the group work and the discussions after each session and also practical learning methods were used: brainstorming, bee-hives, writing compositions, picture drawing and an outdoor activity – “Risk Assessment of a Secondary School in the Community”. This exercise developed their visual and assessing skills, made them understand the importance of their interaction in the places and cooperation with local authorities.
The workshop was very effective in terms of exchange of experiences and all the above mentioned group-work tasks on elaborating regional mapping, risk assessment and other developing activities of community mobilization in emergencies.