Summary:
This DREF operation provided the 34 National Societies in the Americas region with essential information to boost their response capacities and/or provide support to their State authorities on potential humanitarian issues regarding the Ebola virus disease (EVD). Furthermore, the National Societies were capable of contributing to public actions to reduce the fear, stigmatization and discrimination associated with EVD. A two-day continental workshop for Ebola preparedness was organized for all the National Societies on 25-26 November 2015. Nearly all of the National Societies and overseas branches located in the Americas region participated in the workshop. (The Uruguayan Red Cross was unable to attend.) Including participants from the IFRC and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the workshop was attended by 76 people.
The workshop fulfilled the primary objective of providing guidance and support on Ebola preparedness to National Societies. Additionally, the representatives from the National Societies received the necessary information to implement community-level actions to counteract the fear, stigmatization and discrimination generated by the Ebola virus disease. After the workshop, the majority of National Societies strengthen their capacities to continue to engage in internal and external advocacy, disseminate the acquired knowledge and offer guidance for recommended actions for countries with low risk of an Ebola outbreak.
This DREF operation also provided financial support that allowed the IFRC communication unit in the secretariat headquarters to develop a global communication campaign on EVD. Particular support was allocated for the translation into Portuguese of the design and development of the campaign video material. The communication unit and the health focal point in the Americas region office (ARO) provided technical input for the development of the video script. The preliminary video was shared with all the National Societies at the continental workshop; their constructive feedback was used to improve the final product. Additionally, these funds contributed to the costs related to the distribution of the Ebola tool kit to 34 National societies and 1 overseas branch during the XX Inter-American Conference in March 2015.
The principle challenge of the operation revolved around coordination efforts with other institutions to ensure coherence and compatibility of the information. The coordination with the World Health Organization was required since its information was central in the global response to address Ebola. The ARO was also challenged to be able to ensure that all the National Societies and overseas branches in the Americas could meet and build a common agenda and skills set regarding Ebola in spite of the enormous sociocultural diversity in this region.
Among the central lessons learned in this operation was the understanding that the secretariat has a leadership and dissemination role in emerging risks and emergencies, such as that presented by the outbreak of Ebola and the repercussions in countries with limited or non-existent levels of affectation. Additionally, this operation reiterated the auxiliary role of the National Societies to their State institutions in humanitarian issues.