Mr. Rawaj Haji, member of the Executive Board of Barzani Charity Foundation and in charge of Afrin issue, presents the data and quantity of services and assistance delivered by Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) in Afrin.
Mr. Rawaj Haji, member of the Executive Board of Barzani Charity Foundation and in charge of the Afrin issue, on February 26, 2024, regarding the quality and quantity of assistance of Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) in Afrin said:
After the February 2023 earthquakes and the opening of the office of the Barzani Charity Foundation in Afrin, through this office has continuously delivered various aid to the residents of the area, the aid includes food, non-food, health and cultural and vocational courses.
Mr. Rawaj Haji claimed “Barzani Charity Foundation was the first international organization to deliver aid to Afrin. In addition to providing emergency services to earthquake victims and providing food and hot meals, they distributed 1,200 tents to families whose houses collapsed and were left homeless. Services are still continuing.” He also said “We have paid great attention to vocational and educational courses and serving the disabled and orphans. We have given priority to children whose fathers were victims of the earthquake and we are registering them in the orphans and widows Project, so that they can be distributed monthly cash assistance, especially those children under the age of 18 who cannot work.
In response to the question that in West Kurdistan, besides Afrin, how many other regions and regions have you had activities and the total amount of assistance in terms of quantity? “Barzani Charity Foundation, on the day of the disastrous earthquakes in North and West Kurdistan, Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, put its emergency teams on alert and quickly sent them to the scene. After the arrival of the emergency services teams of the Disaster and Emergency Agency in Turkey (AFAD), facilitated the teams of Barzani Charity Foundation, to go to the rescue of the victims of the earthquakes in West Kurdistan (syria) to deliver help and services to the people in the area to deliver a humanitarian message to the victims and the world. Our services and assistance have continued in 97 different areas of Afrin and its districts and villages in various sectors.”
Their Messer in charge of the Afrin issue also said: the project (Barzani Center for Culture and Development) was launched on 1/7/2023 in Afrin with the support of Caritas Essen. The project has been funded for one year with $145,800, and 151 children, women and youth have participated in 13 trainings and 21 different activities. The center has paid great attention to opening courses for students, children and women, including reinforcement courses and foreign languages, music and drawing courses, sewing courses for women and vocational courses for youth such as mobile phone repair, barbershop and electricity connection, etc.
Regarding the welcome of the people to the Barzani Charity Foundation and their relations in Afrin and the level of cooperation and coordination between the directors of the councils and government institutions in Afrin with the Barzani Charity Foundation, he said: there hasn’t been any obstacles and issues for us during giving our services so far. The official institutions in Afrin have not been an obstacle to our work and fully support our service projects and activities. People are generally very happy and have always welcomed us warmly.
Mr. Rawaj Haji presented some of the agenda and statistics of the work and activities of Barzani Charity Foundation in Afrin: “During the three months of emergency and in 97 different areas and four different sectors, 13,429 people were provided with food aid, 9,347 people with non-food assistance and Shelter sector 1,600 families benefited. In the field of health, in just 45 days, the mobile hospital team provided health services to 8,776 people, consisting of (medicines, tests, bandages) and three trucks of medicines and health supplies were provided. Five ambulances worked as mobile nursing homes and 15 health workers provided services. Despite of what we mentioned before we have worked in many other sectors for example, on 13/3/2023, the Afrin Bakery was officially opened, which provided free bread to 3,900 families for two months. On 16 March 2023, Barzani Charity Foundation teams conducted a cleaning campaign in Afrin. They also planted 35 trees to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the chemical attack on Halabja. On April 18, 2023, they organized a breakfast for 300 environmentalists in Afrin. The event was to honor the work of environmentalists and at the end they were awarded special prizes.
Barzani Center for Culture and Development organized various activities in Afrin on the occasion of World Education Day, on 24/1/2024, which included the opening of an exhibition of paintings and handicrafts for artists of Afrin, folk dance and distribution of certificates to the graduates Professionals and undergraduates. Certificates were distributed to 140 participants of courses. In the past six months, 13 trainings have been conducted in computer courses, sewing, mobile phone repair, language learning and several other sectors. During the same period, the first bachelor’s students were presented with gifts.
Barzani Charity Foundation in cooperation with the German Federal Agency (THW) and in coordination with the Crisis Coordination Center of the Kurdistan Regional Government (JCC), on January 23, 2024 provided logistical assistance to the municipalities of Afrin.
The donations included an excavator and its equipment, as well as daily necessities for employees and service workers to serve the region. These assistances are of great importance to the city’s residents and their recovery, especially after last year’s earthquakes, which caused a major humanitarian disaster.
Mr. Rawaj Haji, a member of the Executive Board of Barzani Charity Foundation and in charge of the Afrin issue, said in the final part of the interview: “The aid provided to the city of Afrin and surrounding districts and villages by Barzani Charity Foundation with assistance of international and local foundations and organizations. And we are trying to ensure that as many people as possible benefit from these assistances.”
