On July 14 and 15, 2025, the Red Cross Surčin organised a self-assessment workshop focusing on analysing its capacity by following the BOCA (Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment) methodology developed by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The International Federation financially supported this activity, and the event in Surčin is the eighth self-assessment of this type in the National Society of the Red Cross of Serbia after this methodology was introduced in the National Society in June last year. Surčin is also the first Red Cross of Serbia branch in Belgrade in which a BOCA self-assessment has been done so far, with all the specifics that characterize larger cities, but also the fact that the Red Cross Surčin is one of the youngest Red Cross of Serbia branches.

The initiative for the Red Cross Surčin to go through this process originated with the branch secretary, Ana Blanuša. Red Cross Surčin is a municipal organization of the Red Cross established relatively recently, in the newest Belgrade municipality, which in terms of population is close to some of the municipalities in the centre of Belgrade, but exceeds them many times over in terms of territory, with much more agricultural land and a more dispersed population. The challenges that this Red Cross branch faces are therefore special, and that is why the capacity self-assessment took into account many specificities of the position of the organization, the communities in the municipality, and the relationship with the local self-government.

During two days of work, the existing capacities and strength of the Red Cross Surčin were recognized, especially in the field of constant presence in the field and work with communities through the efforts of the constituent organisations of the Red Cross Surčin, as well as strong resources in the form of a good number of active young volunteers. The potential for improving capacities was also recognised, especially related to greater participation of the local community in vulnerability mapping, more detailed planning of annual activities, as well as to ensuring the implementation of the fundamental principles of the Movement in all aspects of the activities the branch undertakes. The very active work of young volunteers, members of the Youth Field Unit, but also older volunteers and members of the board and assembly of the Red Cross Surčin ensured that the discussions were focused on the essential aspects of the activities of the branch and that realistic plans were reached on how to improve some of its capacities.

BOCA is a self-assessment toolkit developed by the International Federation to provide National Societies branches with standardized support in the process of identifying and assessing their strengths, limitations and challenges related to their organizational capacity. Intended and made available to all organizations of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in the world, this tool has so far been used for self-assessments by more than five hundred organizations and as a result gave concrete plans for the improvement of various elements of the organization and its work. The Red Cross of Serbia, with the support of the Capacity Building Fund of the International Federation, after the neighboring National Societies in Hungary and North Macedonia, started using the BOCA tool and has so far conducted such self-assessments in six of its branches.