More than 450 stakeholders and community members attended the first-ever trainings in Lebanon on emergency response and disaster mitigation (ERDM), hosted last month by World Vision.

The training was part of a holistic capacity building programme to empower communities to effectively respond when a crisis occurs.

Promoters said it would enable communities to identify, assess and mitigate the potential source of disaster in their areas.

Offered in each of World Vision's nine community development programmes in Lebanon, the training targeted local ERDM committees, Red Cross youth volunteers and World Vision Lebanon volunteers.

Each ERDM committee included representatives of NGOs, community based organisations and municipalities.

"Each of the target groups was given a specific task to undertake in an ERDM situation," said Tony Matar, World Vision Lebanon's Grants and ERDM manager.

"For instance the first group will devise a strategy to supervise disaster mitigation programs in response to a Category I, Level 1 disaster. The second and third groups will be on the field to implement and coordinate the programs," said Matar.

World Vision is also in the process of pre-positioning non-perishable commodities within all World Vision community development programmes in Lebanon to enable local communities to effectively respond to Category I, Level 1 disasters.

For more information please visit: lebanon.worldvision.org