KRG to train, dispatch medical volunteers to aid fight against COVID-19

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region's Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) will train and dispatch 210 volunteers to hospitals across the autonomous region to offer support in combating the worsening coronavirus outbreak, the JCC said in a statement Sunday.

The 210 volunteers are medical studies graduates from the region's universities and colleges, according to the JCC. They will reportedly partake in a two-month-long course in public healthcare facilities in Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok, and Halabja provinces, after which they will move to COVID-19 treatment centers to provide additional assistance in the fight against the disease.

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The operation comes in coordination with the regional health ministry and is supported by European countries, chief among them the German government.

"This volunteering project offers a valuable opportunity for new graduates to gain practical skills and experience, which will help them to find employment in the public and private sectors. Additionally, the volunteers offer great benefits to the JCC in operating its newly established volunteering system in the Kurdistan Region," said Hoshang Mohammed, JCC Director-General, in a statement.

JCC has already started to build up a pool of volunteers with different professional backgrounds across the country to serve as rapid response teams during times of crisis. This was initiated and guided by the expertise of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). The additional 210 volunteers integrated will bolster JCC's ability to aid the battle against COVID-19.

The project is supported by the Qudra 2 program in Iraq, implemented by the German development agency (GIZ), and co-financed by the EU through the European Union Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis, the German government, as well as Spanish government support.

Peshang Abdulkareem, 27, one of the volunteers, said: "as a Syrian refugee in Erbil, I am very pleased to participate in this project. It will strengthen my professional skills and allow me to gain experience in a field of work I always wanted to engage in. I am also very proud to become a volunteer at the JCC to serve and support my host community and the Kurdish government."

"We highly appreciate GIZ's kind contribution to the efforts of JCC on empowering volunteer's medical service skills," said Dr. Dlovan Jalal, Director-General of Erbil's Health Directorate, in a statement

"It is very crucial for the future careers of our volunteers, to advance their skills by supporting our medical teams to provide health services to patients, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic."

The JCC is a crisis response center that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) established to coordinate the KRG's response to humanitarian crises between relevant government agencies. Its mandate is to manage ministries, institutions, and organizations so that they can work effectively when dealing with both natural and human-made disasters.

Editing by Khrush Najari