Resource Kit: Communities Respond: Experience Sharing in Community-Based Management of Avian and Human Influenza in Asia

This resource kit is the result of the collaborative efforts of individuals and organisations involved in community-based management of avian and human influenza (AHI) in Asia. According to the compilers of the kit, while these communities often have a wealth of knowledge and skills in dealing with AHI, this experience is not always shared to benefit other community-level practitioners.

The kit was compiled by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) comprising the AHI-NGO-RC/RC Asia Partnership, including the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), CARE, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC), with funding from the Canadian Government through Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The aims of this resource kit are to: • Capture and highlight the experience of communities in Asia in managing AHI • Bring this experience to the attention of NGOs, governments, and international organisations working with communities to manage AHI. • Share experiences of communities worst affected at present by AHI with practitioners elsewhere who are dealing with AHI as a new problem. • Highlight successes, challenges, and priority areas in managing AHI at the community level in Asia. • Advocate for greater importance to be given to participatory processes and to the empowerment of communities in Asia.

The resource kit includes: case studies highlighting past experience in community-based management in Asia and syntheses of successes, challenges, and lessons identified for different aspects of community-based management of AHI. The intention of the resource kit is to provide a snapshot of efforts to manage AHI at the community level in Asia in 2008 - a snapshot of materials already available, of projects and activities underway, and of needs and priority areas for the future.

Contents include: • CHAPTER 1 Understanding Communities: From Knowledge into Practice • CHAPTER 2 Communicating for Action: Mobilizing Individual and Social Change Through Communication • CHAPTER 3 Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods Through Healthy Community-Level Poultry Production and Trade • CHAPTER 4 Participatory Surveillance at Community Level and Training of Animal/Human Health Workers • CHAPTER 5 Community Preparedness