Guwahati : A state-level capacity-building workshop for district-level teams on Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS) during Emergencies in 3 batches starting from June 3 to June 15, 2024, was inaugurated on Monday at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj-North Eastern Regional Centre (NIRDPRNERC), Khanapara in Assam’s Guwahati.

The workshop has been organised to strengthen the district-level Key Resource Persons (KRP) from the Department of School Education (DoSE) and Women & Child Development (WCD) of all the districts for further disseminating training to district/circle/block level functionaries for conducting basic in situ-camp level awareness programmes for children in relief camps or children whose education continuity has been impacted by disaster.

The workshop was organised by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) in collaboration with UNICEF, Assam.

ASDMA has planned to capacitate the relief camps in the districts with a “School in a Box kit/CFS Kit” which will be handed over to the school authorities and are used as relief camps to strengthen the camps with materials and resources to run the camps smoothly.

ASDMA has also planned to strengthen the camps by installing sanitary napkin vending machines with incinerators for women & adolescent girls in relief camps subjecting to fully functional vending machines and duly replenished with sanitary napkins during camp operation.

During the inaugural session on Monday, Mukesh Ch Sahu, Principal Secretary, of the Department of Women and Child Development, appreciated ASDMA for leading many innovative initiatives for disaster risk reduction of which CFS is one.

He emphasised the importance of identifying and addressing the multiple needs of children including protecting children from abuse and exploitation in camps as well as post-disaster risks of school dropouts, trafficking, child marriage etc.

Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, Chief Executive Officer, ASDMA highlighted the journey of team Assam in creating a model like CFS for the whole country and beyond. He deliberated on the overall objective and results of engaging and caring for children in camps and beyond to ensure their well-being during and after disasters.

Narayan Konwar, Secretary, of the Department of School Education also elaborated on the importance of CFS in the context of continued implementation of the National Education Policy and flagship missions including foundation literacy and numeracy.

In his speech, Rahul Das, Director, of the Directorate of Women and Child Development, emphasised on the importance of this training in streamlining services and engagement of stakeholders for children in relief camps.

Speaking about the workshop, Aparajita Choudhary, Education Specialist, appreciated the leadership of ASDMA for leading the implementation of Child-Friendly Spaces in Emergencies and convening all stakeholders together for integrated service delivery to children in relief camps.

The programme was also attended by the participants of the first batch of the workshop coming from various districts along with all the senior officials of DWCD, DoSE, UNICEF, Assam and ASDMA.