This document is intended as a simple and practical guide for National Society staff and volunteers who wish to undertake a local-level VCA, as part of their community programming strategy. Since the VCA was introduced ten years ago, National Societies have gained a great deal of experience and expertise in its imple- mentation, in both urban and rural communities throughout the world. In 2003, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (International Federation) began an exten- sive review of VCA, in order to capture important lessons learned, with a view to updating the process. This revised guide and related publications seek to address the issues and questions highlighted by the evaluation and make the VCA process more ˜user-friendly'. National Societies are therefore encouraged to seek support from those who already have experi- ence of and training in VCA.