Kurdistan Region crisis response capacity has developed, says official

The Center has also worked to promote the culture of volunteerism in times of crisis.

Kurdistan 24 2023/07/11 09:20

Kurdish crisis responders are pictured during the inauguration ceremony of a Training and Crisis Management Institute in Erbil, June 4, 2023. (Photo: KRG Joint Crisis Coordination Center)

Kurdistan Kurdistan Region Srwa Rasoul Natural disasters KRG Masrour Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In the last four years, the Kurdistan Region’s capacity to respond to emergencies has developed considerably, thanks to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) efforts to strengthen capacity building and mitigate risks, a top official told Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

Srwa Rasoul, the head of the Region’s Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC), said the remarks during an interview with Kurdistan 24 as part of the media’s comprehensive coverage on the fourth anniversary of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ninth Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

In early June, the Center inaugurated the Training and Crisis Management Institute, through which crisis response training and capacity building are provided to volunteers that wishes to help during crises, the official said.

“It is for the first time that the Kurdistan Region has a center like this as Germany,” she said, detailing how the establishment would prepare first responders for times of crisis.

The training center has been established with the support of Germany’s interior ministry.

The Center has also worked to promote the culture of volunteerism in times of crisis, Ms. Rasool said, recalling hundreds of volunteers that had taken part in responding to emergencies caused by Erbil’s floods earlier this year and in 2022.

As the first international search and rescue team, the Kurdistan Region deployed its first responders to the earthquake-stricken areas in both southeast Turkey and northwestern Syria early this year.

At least 12 people died last year due to a destructive flash flooding in parts of south Erbil following heavy rainfall.

Inaugurated in July 2019, the KRG Ninth Cabinet has been leading a multisectoral and comprehensive reform program in a bid to strengthen the Region’s infrastructure and its resilience, several government officials, including Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, have said on many occasions.