In the period from June 3 to 8, 2024, the Red Cross of Serbia, with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, organized the training of facilitators for the BOCA (Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment) process, signifying the start of this development process in the National Society.

BOCA is a self-assessment toolkit developed by the International Federation to provide standardized support to branches of National Societies worldwide 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 and 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 neighbouring National Societies in Hungary and North Macedonia, started using the BOCA tool itself.

The training of facilitators in the Red Cross of Serbia was attended by 14 participants, associates from the headquarters of the national society, associates from coordinating levels, and secretaries of organizations, and it was implemented by the team of International Federation certified trainers: Kristina Spasić, delegate for the development of national societies of the Cluster Office in Sarajevo, Vladimir Vukelić from of the Red Cross of the republic of North Macedonia and Dmitry Ilyukin, Officer for the Development of National Societies in the Cluster Office of the International Federation for Russia and Belarus.

This intensive training included going through all stages of the BOCA process, and then applying the acquired knowledge through the implementation of the BOCA self-assessment in three Red Cross of Serbia organizations: Red Cross Aranđelovac, Red Cross Kovin and Red Cross Stari Grad, where the facilitators immediately tested what they had learned. The self-assessment exercises in these three branches, in addition to the secretaries and employees, included the volunteers, members of governing bodies and partners from institutions with which the Red Cross organizations cooperate, due to the fact that the BOCA process pursues realistic positioning of the organization in the context in which it works. During the two-day workshops, all organizations developed their action plans for the improvement of organizational capacities for the next year. The Red Cross of Serbia plans to conduct three more self-assessments of its local branches by the end of the year.