Highlights
- A flagship learning initiative on COVID-19 preparedness and response was launched virtually in New Delhi on 11 April 2020.
- More than 34 000 participants from 36 States/UTs across India have registered on the platform.
- COVID-19 academy provides a platform for learning, exchange of knowledge and ideas amongst volunteers from Civil Society Organizations, Community and Faith-based Organizations, Red Cross, Civil Defence, National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme, Nehru Yuva Kendra, student groups and individuals.
- Participants will be able to support the local level authorities to deliver health and social protection services to address direct and secondary impact of COVID-19.
08 June 2020, New Delhi: Within two months of its launch, the COVID-19 academy has reached out to more than 48 000 participants from across the country and trained them on a range of topics spanning from basic epidemiology of COVID-19, social protection, continuation of essential health services, food security, addressing stigma and discrimination, and much more. The overarching aim of the COVID-19 Academy is to build capacities of civil society organizations and grassroot volunteers who play critical roles in COVID-19 preparedness and response, both at the community and health facility level. This is to equip them with knowledge and skills on how to protect themselves and deliver key interventions in response to the new virus.
The COVID-19 academy is contributing in building the necessary awareness on emerging science and disease epidemiology of this evolving outbreak through a series of daily webinars. Facilitated by technical experts, the courses aim to prepare civil society organizations and grassroot volunteers for various roles in COVID-19 preparedness and response. Through the trainings, a cadre of master trainers are prepared to facilitate state specific trainings adapted in local context. The trained volunteers in the districts will work with the district administration and gram panchayat level community functionaries to support local level response to COVID-19.
The virtual launch of the COVID-19 Academy took place on 11 April 2020 in New Delhi in the presence of Shri Kamal Kishore, Member, NDMA; Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India; Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative UNICEF India, Ms. Nidhi Pundir, Director HCL Foundation; and Mr Vikrant Mahajan, Chief Executive Officer, Sphere India. The COVID-19 academy is a joint capacity-building initiative of NDMA, UNICEF, WHO Country Office for India, HCL Foundation and Sphere India.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India said, “Frontline workers are central to any emergency response. They are the first responders to fight a disease; and help prevent, detect and care. COVID-19 is a new virus and we are all learning on the go. It is much more than a health crisis and requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response. A learning platform like COVID-19 is very timely and important to create awareness, build capacity, and enable knowledge exchange through a diverse community of learners.”
Talking about the significance of the COVID-19 academy, Sh. Kamal Kishore, Hon’ble Member NDMA said, “We on behalf of Government of India are very grateful that we have this partnership with UNICEF, WHO, Sphere India and other organisations. This is just a beginning and we have to think of creative ways of achieving multiplier effect without compromising on quality to extend this training to communities in different languages”. Acknowledging the importance of a shared learning experience, Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative UNICEF India stated, “This platform is an opportunity for two-way communication enabling knowledge exchange between volunteers, workers and experts.”
Since its launch, the COVID19 Academy has conducted more than 50 bilingual webinars in Hindi and English on a range of topics such as Climate change agenda in COVID-19 impacted world; Ensuring respectful pregnancy care during COVID-19, Infection prevention and control during COVID-19; Responsive parenting for young children during COVID-19; WASH-health interlinkages in context of covid-19; Impact of covid-19 on migrant workers in the Indian garment industry; and Understanding gender, gender mainstreaming and addressing gender based violence in humanitarian action etc. Each webinar session included technical presentations, country specific case studies and experiences as well as an interactive session for questions and answers. Given the lack of easily accessible and evidence-based practical knowledge on health outbreaks, COVID-19 Academy aims to enhance technical knowledge and capacity among key sector stakeholders and stimulate peer exchange on handling outbreaks in field-settings.