Context: Recently, nearly 2.8 million community leaders participated in online workshops to practice social behaviours necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas.
Key Points

• It is jointly carried out by National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Field Office in Hyderabad.
• The online training aimed at building the capacities of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs), self-help groups (SHGs), National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers and community radio stations.
• The programmes also built awareness on the role these institutions can play in making village communities aware of the disease. Participants were also briefed on the risk communication plan that these institutions can utilise to boost their role in spreading awareness.
• The programme was conducted through a digital application for enabling video conference calls with district master trainers from the three states.
• 873 district resource persons from the rural development department of Telangana were trained, according to a press release by the NIRDPR.

About National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj

• It was established in 1958, NIRDPR is an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• It is recognized internationally as one of the UN-ESCA (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) Centres of Excellence.
• It builds capacities of rural development functionaries, elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), bankers, NGOs through training, research and consultancy.
• It is located in Hyderabad in Telangana state.
• It has also North-Eastern Regional Centre at Guwahati, Assam to meet the NE-regional needs.

Its objectives

• Undertake research on its own or collaborate with State, national and international development agencies;
• Offer solutions to problems encountered in planning and implementation of the programmes for rural development, decentralised governance, panchayati raj and related programmes;
• Study the functioning of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and rural development programmes across the States.

About United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 

• It was formerly known as United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund is special program of UN devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.
• It was created in 1946 to provide relief to children in countries devastated by World War II.
• It is headquartered in New York City.
• After 1950, it directed its efforts toward general programs for improvement of children’s welfare, particularly in less-developed countries and various emergency situations.
• Its broader mission was reflected in present name adopted in 1953.
• It was awarded Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965.
• Since 1996 UNICEF programs have been guided by Convention on Rights of the Child (1989), which affirms right of all children to enjoyment of highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.
• Much of UNICEF’s efforts are concentrated in areas in which relatively small expenditures, but have significant impact on lives of the most disadvantaged children, such as the prevention and treatment of disease.
• Its activities are financed by both government and private contributions.
• It supports immunization programs for childhood diseases and programs to prevent spread of HIV/AIDS.
• It also provides funding for health services, educational facilities and other welfare services.