On 23-24 October 2023 under the Country Action “Accelerating Local Action in Humanitarian and Health Crises of the ECHO-PPP, a workshop was organised in the conference hall of the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST)’s branch in Khujand city, Sughd province. This two-day seminar was conducted for the executive secretaries of the RCST branches in the cities and districts of Sughd district on Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment (BOCA), which is a new modern tool to assess and analyze a RCST branch’s organizational capacity. BOCA is designed by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for its member-societies. Besides mentioned participants and representatives from the RCST Central Committee from Dushanbe, a representative from German Red Cross (GRC) in Sughd region attended this event. The seminar was conducted by a trainer from the RCST Central Committee with international qualification who applied new methodology and approach in delivery of the topic.
The seminar’s presentation begun with an introduction to the activity programme and development strategy of the RCST branch in Sughd region. The trainer and facilitators used informative slides and detailed explanation to attract the attention of the participants to the BOCA-related issues, work with the branch organizational capacity assessment matrix, analysis of the results of branch’s organizational capacity matrix, seeking consensus, a correct way of prioritizing the development dimensions of the branch’s activity.
In order to enhance lessons learned, group works among participants were conducted within the frameworks of the seminar. At the end, the final results of the different development dimensions of the branch organization, with RCST branch in Sughd region as example, were indicated in the printed banner.
As a result of conducted seminar, the participants acquired knowledge about new analysis approach, the Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment (BOCA), they learned about the branch organizational capacity matrix and its analysis, seeking consensus, and a correct way of prioritizing the development dimensions of the branch’s activity using different tools.
The participants of this innovative analytical seminar demonstrated particular interest and ensured that after returning, they would analyze and assess the organizational capacity of their respective branches to identify the strength and weaknesses.
