February 7, 2023
News
Would you like to know more about the Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation department at Caritas Czech Republic country office in Georgia? We launched a series of interviews with our colleagues who will tell you more about our work in Georgia. This time we interviewed Iskandar Mina, our new Country Director who shares why working at Caritas Czech Republic is important for him and what are the future plans for 2023.
You have been working as a health expert for more than fourteen years during health emergencies in various countries. In 2022, you became the Country Director of the largest non-state provider of social and health services in the Czech Republic, which also provides humanitarian aid and development assistance in Georgia. What is the main reason you would like to work on humanitarian and development-oriented activities in developing countries?
As you know, I am a paramedic and first aid trainer coming from Lebanon. I have volunteered at the Lebanese Red Cross since when I was seventeen and as such, a humanitarian spirit was developed in me at a very early age.
Initially, I was a volunteer at a children’s cancer center and that was the experience that developed in me the mentality of how we can better help vulnerable people in different contexts. After years of experience in humanitarian aid, now I strongly believe that if everyone invests even a couple of minutes in supporting people in need, these small efforts can make huge relief in those people’s lives.
On a professional level, I have started my mission in Lebanon in response to the Syrian crisis. Then, I left for new challenges to Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Azerbaijan. Considering my knowledge, mainly I was involved in emergencies and crises.
Before joining Caritas Czech Republic’s family, I had been following up its activities very actively and was astonished by the deliverables and the impact this team has had not only on a systemic level but at the grassroots as well. This was the main reason that encouraged me to join this organization. Moreover, I wanted to use my experience and knowledge to explore the humanitarian sector and development cooperation from different perspectives and since I am based in Georgia now, to contribute to the development of this gorgeous country.
I do hope that with this team of very qualified and experienced professionals, we will be able to carry out activities of the highest importance for Georgia.
You have mentioned the impact of Caritas Czech Republic’s work in Georgia. What impresses you the most about the Georgian team’s work?
Caritas Czech Republic is recognized as a successful and impactful organization in Georgia. When I first met with the huge donor organizations that are funding our projects, I was very pleased to see how happy they were with Caritas Czech Republic’s work, activities, and projects.
For example, very recently, we had a meeting with UNICEF Georgia, and their representatives literally said that the cooperation with our organization is a model of partnership, and they will aim to disseminate this message with other partners and make sure to have the rest of their partnerships as successful as with us. Of course, such an assessment gives encouragement and motivation to me and my colleagues to proceed in our work and to expand our assistance on different levels.
Caritas Czech Republic has been assisting the Government of Georgia to support the development of healthcare since 2008. Huge work has been carried out to support continuing medical education of PHC doctors, providing rural clinics with medical equipment, introducing IT solutions, etc. Why supporting PHC is so much important in such a country as Georgia?
As I am a health expert, I foresee supporting the healthcare system from a personal as well as professional perspective. We all know that primary healthcare has the “gatekeeping” function which should promote the welfare of the general population and prevent the secondary level of healthcare from overloading. In this regard, we should not forget about the recent challenges related to the outbreak of the COVID-19 which proved that doctors are our treasure, and we should be taking care of and strengthening them permanently. As such, working on capacity building of primary health workers, providing them with medical equipment, and working on the system level in support to the Government of Georgia is crucial for the development of the healthcare system as a whole. That is why I do believe that supporting primary healthcare is so much important especially for such a developing country as Georgia is.
Advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities and providing them with decent living conditions is one of the flagships of Caritas Czech Republic’s work. How would you assess the current situation in our country in this regard and what are the main challenges we should address in the near future?
You know that persons with disabilities (PwDs) are identified as one of the priorities among the most vulnerable groups of people by the UN agencies as they have limited access to various services and unfortunately, have fewer opportunities.
I am very happy that currently, Caritas Czech Republic is carrying out a very important project funded by the Czech Development Agency aiming at creating a national system of adult alternative care based on the individual needs of beneficiaries. Particularly, it concerns the deinstitutionalization of two large boarding homes for persons with disabilities in Martkofi and Dusheti and the development of relevant family-style services for the beneficiaries of these services. You know that huge work has been done in this regard in recent years, relevant strategy document was elaborated and part of the houses was handed over to the State Care Agency for the beneficiaries to start a new living there.
But we should not forget that Georgia still faces lots of challenges in this direction, be those gaps in Georgian legislation, accessing rights-based healthcare services, etc. As such, social protection will remain one of the flagships of our work and we will continue working with the Government of Georgia to make the environment for persons with disabilities more inclusive and more rights-based. And we would be very thankful to the donor community if they continue supporting us in this endeavor.
In recent years, our organization has done much to contribute to the development of rural areas and provide assistance to ensure environmental protection in the mountainous regions of Georgia. Currently, we are working on a project to support sustainable wastewater management in the region of Racha. Why is this work especially important for the rural areas of the country?
Caritas Czech Republic has huge expertise in different thematic areas, including rural development, and the results of our interventions show how successful our projects are in different regions of Georgia. From what I see now, our team has much contributed to the development of various fields in the Tusheti and Pshave-Khevsureti areas, Khulo municipality, and Racha-Lechkhumi and kvemo Svaneti region.
Why is this work so much important? Because people in rural areas of Georgia have fewer opportunities due to various reasons and as such, we see that more and more people move to the capital city and leave their towns and villages deserted. With our work, we would like to encourage them to stay in their hometowns and villages, establish and develop their small enterprises, get new knowledge from us, and as such, contribute to the development of their communities.
Currently, there are two very important projects Caritas Czech Republic is working on. One is aimed at supporting sustainable cattle farming and another is focused on wastewater management in the mountainous areas of Georgia. Our project managers and project experts do their best to fulfill the purposes of those projects and to ensure better living of farmers, entrepreneurs and general population in rural areas. Much has been done in this direction and of course, we will continue contributing to the development of this sector in the upcoming year, too.
In conclusion, how would you prioritize the topics of our work in 2023? What are the most critical issues we are going to address in the upcoming period?
Caritas Czech Republic’s strategy for 2023 is to sustain the current projects – we will keep supporting healthcare and social protection systems, work on rural development, and stay focused on environmental protection. Due to the Ukrainian crisis, we are also considering working in this direction as we have relevant experience in many fields that can be used in the Ukrainian crisis, e.g. capacity in the direction of child protection, livelihood resilience, etc.
In conclusion, I would like to respond to the catastrophic situation in Turkey and Syria and express condolences to the families of the victims. And I will take this opportunity to invite everyone to donate to Caritas Czech Republic humanitarian fund in support of the victims of the devastating earthquake in our neighborhood.
