With the support of Finnish Red Cross, the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST) organized in June 2008 a five-day training for a group of RCST headquarters program coordinators and key persons from five new branches, which were selected for implementing PCD projects in a new program in 2008-2009.
The training program draft was designed by two members of the European PCD Practitioners' network - Ruska Boyadjieva and Peter Yovkov, who have become familiar with the PCD piloting project in Tajikistan during training, consulting or evaluation missions in 2006 and 2007. Ruska Boyadjieva was assigned as external consultant to finalize the training program with colleagues in Tajikistan, and to lead the training. Local co-facilitators from RCST headquarters included Youth and Volunteer coordinator Istad Nazarova, and PCD project coordinators Nasrullo Naimov and Guljahon Arbobova.
Based on recommendations of the evaluation of the piloting PCD cycle, this training was to integrate following elements to the standard “Implementers’ training package”:
* The OD Link: Discussions and presentations were prepared about developmental projects, partnership building, working with different stakeholders, and raising the profile of the RC organization among communities - with the overall aim to point out the link between PCD projects and development needs of RCST's local organization. To support the process of program integration and networking with other programs on NS level (such as CBFA, Water & Sanitation and DM), interested coordinators from other programs were invited to participate and contribute to shared topics during the training.
* Understanding PRA As A Tool for Local Capacity Building: Particular attention was paid to the understanding of the objectives of the PRA process, especially to the importance of the participatory problems analysis phase – in order to avoid predomination of expected material outcomes of micro projects and use of PRA as an instrumental “step to do” for this end only.
* Integrating VCA to PCD: Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) can contribute to the problem analysis and mapping of local capacities and local solutions; and facilitate the integration of PCD in the general capacity building and programming work of the Red Crescent. The vulnerability and capacity assessment features currently practiced in the DM program (by local DM teams) were introduced in the training by IFRC’s long-time DM coordinator. This also demonstrated how PCD and DM programs can learn from each other in the context of RCST.
Through the training, participants exercised the discussed PRA methods in groups, with "virtual communities". Among others, this approach was aimed at integrating the participants' experience on country context and project work in the discussions, and at defining the roles of the local PCD coordinators in their relation to the PRA teams and the communities. Out of feedback discussions and analyzing of the exercises, the participants created at the end of the training a “Code of Conduct” for the work in communities.
At the end of the training, the plan of activities of the PCD cycle was reviewed and a joint schedule was agreed by local project coordinators and executive secretaries of the branches. Follow up, feedback, and experience sharing will be maintained by quarterly meetings.
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