We are used to supporting people during disasters – whether conflict, floods, fires or earthquakes – but an unprecedented crisis like Covid-19 creates a whole host of new and untested challenges. How do you decide how best to respond and deploy your resources when an emergency is at such scale, and the needs so complex, compared to any emergency you’ve dealt with before?
The Solferino Academy began convening virtual workshops in Mid-March 2020, connecting people in national societies responding to COVID-19 so they could share insights, experiences and innovations. Two months later, we had run over 10 Virtual Workshops with more than 2,000 people attending (we had one with 700 people!). Our average attendance per virtual workshop was about 150 people. Here’s what we learned along the way.
A quiet revolution is happening in how partner Red Cross and Red Crescent societies are collaborating. It is not happening everywhere, not everyone is on board and there continue to be bumps in the road. But it is involving ever more National Societies (NS) and millions of CHF.