On Sunday, September 23, 2018, the Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) organized a workshop for the relevant Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministries, departments and institutions to discuss, and review the draft law for the Crisis Management in Kurdistan Region which prepared by the JCC with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Mr. Hoshang Mohamed, the Director General of the JCC, welcomed the participants for the workshop and stressed on the importance of enacting a law for the management of crisis and disasters in the Kurdistan Region in order for the relevant institutions and authorities be able to deal with the crisis and disasters in a systematic way.
Mr. Hari Krishna, a UNDP seconded expert to the JCC, gave detailed presentation on the Crisis Management Draft Law and explained the process, the components of the law and the importance of having a law for the crisis. He highlighted the reasons why Kurdistan needs this law and the international frameworks that supports states and regions to development law and establish systems not only respond and manage emergencies but also to reduce and mitigate the effects of the crisis and disasters on the civilians, infrastructure, economy and environment.
Mr. Krishna highlighted several examples in which the crisis management law and system has significantly lowered the number of victims as a result of the crisis and disasters, adding that based on the review from other countries’ experiences and the inputs of the previous meetings and the current meeting would help improve the draft law.
Additionally, the floor was opened for the participants to share their comments and present views on the draft law. After a comprehensive review and discussions of the draft, several revisions were made and many recommendations suggested by the participants to enrich and improve the Crisis Management Draft Law.
After the KRG Council of Ministers approved and endorsed the Strategic plan on May 2017, JCC started to implement the strategy and drafting a law for disaster and crisis management is one of the key components of the strategy. UNDP has supported JCC in this process through secondment of experts and funding the process.
The meeting attended by the senior representatives of Ministries of Interior, Communications and Transport, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Department of Foreign Relations, Civil defense, University of Sulaimani, and Iraqi Red Crescent Society as well as JCC offices in the governorates.
