Nagaon: The Lions Club in Nagaon saw a busy Wednesday. Officials, field officers and government representatives gathered there for a one-day district-level orientation programme on Social and Behaviour Change — or SBC — for Disaster Risk Reduction (Social and Behaviour Change for Disaster Risk Reduction).
Assistant Commissioner Mandira Burhagohain was among those present, along with officials from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority and the District Disaster Management Authority, Nagaon. Resource persons and field officers also attended.
The day opened with a welcome address before the objectives of the programme were laid out. What followed were technical sessions covering a fairly wide range of ground — risk communication, community engagement, disaster preparedness, interpersonal communication. Tackling misinformation and rumours got its own dedicated discussion, as did the question of how to encourage people to act positively during emergencies. Resource persons walked participants through examples and case studies to bring these ideas to life.
The core message threading through the sessions was straightforward: community participation, effective communication and behavioural change matter. They are not peripheral concerns in disaster management — they are central to building communities that can actually withstand and recover from disasters.
The afternoon shifted into group work. Participants broke into smaller groups to dig into issues around disaster preparedness, community awareness, communication strategies and behaviour change interventions. Each group then presented their observations and action plans to the room.
A valedictory session brought the day to a close, with the key learnings summarised before certificates were handed out to participants.
DDMA Nagaon official Bijayanta Goswami, speaking at the close, said he hoped the knowledge and experience from the workshop would travel with participants back to the grassroots level — and ultimately help build a more aware and disaster-resilient society.
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