NIRDPR and UNICEF training community leaders online to combat COVID-19

Hyderabad, Apr 16 () More than 28.33 lakh communityleaders are being trained through online programmes topractise social behaviours required to control thetransmission of COVID-19 cases in villages, the NationalInstitute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR)said on Thursday.

The programme is being conducted in collaborationwith UNICEF Hyderabad Field Office, it said in a release.

NIRDPRs Communication Resource Unit (CRU) andUNICEF are working closely with the governments of Telangana,Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in preparedness and responses tocontain the pandemic, the NIRDPR said.

The online training programme was initiated alongthe lines of a detailed Risk Communication Plan to buildcapacities of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), Self-helpGroups (SHG), National Service Scheme (NSS) officials,volunteers and Community Radio Stations (CRS) on the role theycan play, in preventing the spread of COVID-19, in theirgroups and village communities.

"We recognized the exceptional role that Leaders ofPanchayati Raj Institutions and village organizations can playin dealing with the crisis of COVID19 by disseminatingreliable information.

Hence, we decided to build their capacities byendowing them with facts about COVID19, common symptoms, modesof transmission and key behaviours, among other things," W RReddy, Director General, NIRDPR, said.

The Communication Resource Unit (CRU) of NIRDPR andUNICEF, Hyderabad field office developed and shared relevantmaterials such as Handouts, Posters, FAQs and Audio-visualdocuments with all trainees in order to be circulated in theirrespective rural communities, the release said.

The programme is being conducted via a digital appfor enabling video conference calls with District MasterTrainers from Rural Development, Society for Elimination ofRural Poverty (SERP) of Telangana,

officials of National Service Scheme (NSS), Healthfunctionaries of Andhra Pradesh and Community Radio Stationsfunctioning in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, itadded. SJR BNWELCOME BNWELCOME