Twenty Five staff of Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) have been trained in Cash and Voucher Assistance(CVA)
Secretary General for MRCS MacBain Kanongodza said the training prepared the staff to handle disasters.
“The Five day Training of Trainers (TOT) in Cash and Voucher Assistance for 24 Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) staff will help MRCS to properly program the CVA during Emergency preparedness, Response and Recovery operations,” he said.
Kanongodza said the training came at the right time when the humanitarian organization has joined the rest of the world to use CVA as a disaster response model.
He made the remarks on Thursday at the end of the training in Dowa district.
Lisbet Elvekjær, a Senior Humanitarian Advisor at Danish Red Cross, facilitated the training. Lisbet commended MRCS for organizing the TOT in CVA for its staff. She said CVA training is very important as it helps and guide procedures during emergency response where CVA is a model.
She took the participants through but not limited to CVA modalities, selection of delivery mechanism, assessment, targeting, market assessment, facilitating, cash feasibility and transfer, encashment and monitoring and reconciliation.
MRCS preparedness specialist said the TOT has equipped MRCS staff with training and facilitation skills in CVA, which he is optimistic, will go a long way in building capacity of the volunteers at branch and national level.
Echoing his sentiments, Chisomo Duncan Teputepu, MRCS Response specialist said the training would address the gaps there were there during the recent Cash transfer programs.
At the end of the training, the participants were awarded CVA trainers’ certificates recognizing them as facilitators.
The training was made possible with financial support from the European Commission Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) under the Strengthening Resilience to Disasters in Urban and Rural Malawi (STRIM) Project being implemented by MRCS in partnership with Belgian Red Cross.
