VSF International is excited to announce the launch of the Local Engagement and Response Network (LEARN) project, funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). This five-year initiative, running from October 2023 to June 2028, aims to enhance the capacity of local first responders across diverse sectors to manage infectious disease outbreaks in humanitarian settings.
The LEARN project is designed to strengthen existing networks of Local First Responders (LFR) to respond to emergencies, improving their technical and operational capacities to effectively tackle infectious disease outbreaks with epidemic or pandemic potential. LEARN seeks to achieve three core objectives:
- Enhance the ability of LFR networks to engage with critical infectious disease coordination platforms.
- Improve the readiness and multi-sectoral response capabilities of local and regional organizations to manage infectious disease outbreaks.
- Provide the necessary resources and tools to support a localized, contextualized, and integrated multi-sectoral response to infectious disease outbreaks.
The project is implemented by a consortium of partners, each bringing unique technical strengths and experience in enhancing the capacities of Local and National Non-Governmental Organizations (L/NNGOs) in humanitarian contexts. Led by International Medical Corps (IMC), the consortium includes Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA), Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), and Vétérinaires Sans Frontières International (VSF International).
VSF International’s role in LEARN is to provide cross-cutting technical assistance for the integration of the One Health approach across the project strategies, and to foster the coordination and engagement with animal health services and One Health networks, integrating into different project activities the perspective of animal health surveillance and zoonotic infectious disease outbreak preparedness and response.
Targeting 80 Local/National NGOs across 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, the project beneficiaries include Local First Responders such as key staff of L/NNGOs, personnel from local and regional Schools of Public Health, and the broader humanitarian community. The countries targeted for this initiative are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Lebanon, West Bank/Gaza, Iraq and Yemen.
Through the LEARN project, VSF International and its partners are committed to building stronger, more resilient communities capable of effectively responding to infectious disease outbreaks in humanitarian settings. This initiative exemplifies our dedication to fostering local leadership and enhancing multi-sectoral coordination to safeguard public health in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.
