Kurdistan Region launches rapid-response unit in coordination with Germany
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In coordination with Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), the Kurdistan Region’s Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) on Monday launched a special training program to respond to natural and human-made disasters.
The program will be administered by THW along with the JCC and will be carried out by the KRG’s civil defense institute.
Hoshang Mohammed, the director-general of JCC, said the Kurdistan Region center had been working with the German agency since 2015 and due to that coordination, both decided to establish a rapid response unit.
“The team will be trained and prepared to respond to fire, floods, earthquakes, and various disasters, rescuing civilians in such incidents and providing them with first-aid assistance,” Mohammed told Kurdistan 24.
“With 20 participants consisting of civil defense members, volunteers, and JCC staff, the training will be conducted in Erbil,” he said, adding they plan to carry out training elsewhere in Kurdistan as well.
Nils Krippner, head of THW’s international division, echoed Mohammed’s promise to extend training to the rest of the Kurdistan Region. Krippner said plans are underway to establish two more teams in the provinces of Duhok and Sulaimani, so the autonomous Kurdish region does not have to “rely on foreign assistance in the long-run.”
The JCC is a crisis response center the KRG established to coordinate between the related governmental stakeholders, and in times of crisis and disaster.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
