The vast 14,630 square meter compound, built at a cost of 5.5 million dollars, is equipped to serve 6,000 people with disabilities across the course of a year, including internally displaced persons and refugees from Syria, primarily drawn from the Kurdistan Region and neighboring governorates such as Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Diyala.
All who may benefit from its services are warmly invited to visit the building in Erbil’s Sahdi quarter, or call to make an appointment, the ICRC’s Avin Yassin Mohammad told Rudaw English on Tuesday, explaining that patients only need to present their ID to be served.
Situated opposite the Shadi power plant on Erbil's 120 Meter Road, the centre is now fully operational and able to support those requiring physical rehabilitation services.
Services offered at the centre are entirely free, funded by the ICRC’s private donors, and include the provision of prosthetic and orthotic devices, wheelchairs and walking aids, psychological and social support, and financial grants.
In addition to physical treatment, the ICRC building is designed to help those with disabilities in their journey to feeling more included within society by offering guidance, mental health and psychological support. Where appropriate, service users will be provided with economic grants to start small businesses, alongside vocational training.
Demand is high, and Mohammad admitted that the waiting list for the ICRC’s services was long - compounded by COVID-19 complications. According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, approximately 6 million people - around 15% of Iraq’s population - live with a disability.
Dr. Haydi Burhan, the Erbil centre’s manager, is seeking to challenge the stigma facing the disabled population. “Any support, however simple it may sound, can have a great impact on improving the lifestyle of a segment that is often neglected by society,” she said.
Head of the ICRC's Iraq delegation Jean-Jérôme Casabianca commented, "The provided services are crucial for the rehabilitation and social integration of people with disabilities to help them regain their confidence, independence and ability to provide for their families."
“The level of expertise, knowledge and on the job training we receive are crucial for our development as professionals in this field. I feel proud, as an Iraqi, to be able to help others and be a source of hope for people to continue living their lives in the best way possible,” said Bakhtiyar Ismail Muhammad, a bench worker in the centre.
The physical rehabilitation sector has been struggling due to the scarcity of skilled practitioners. It is estimated that over 600,000 Iraqis are in need of physical rehabilitation services, of whom over 200,000 require a prosthesis and/or orthosis. In order to tackle the high demand, the ICRC has launched a full 4-year programme at the Prosthetic and Orthotic College in Erbil, in collaboration with Erbil Polytechnic University. Students from across Iraq are being taught and trained to become professionals in the field.
According to the ICRC’s most recent annual report, 15 students from across Iraq enrolled in Erbil Polytechnic University in 2021 to study Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences with the support of ICRC physical rehabilitation programme team.
The ICRC has provided physical rehabilitation support in Erbil since 1996. In this time, the humanitarian organisation has helped 16,320 people, including more than 8,000 amputees. Alongside Erbil, the ICRC supports four further physical rehabilitation centres in Iraq: in Nasiriyah, Mosul, Fallujah, and Baghdad.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday, landmines, explosive remnants of war and unexploded ordnance were the leading cause of child casualties in Syria in 2021, accounting for nearly one-third of all recorded injuries and deaths, leaving many children in the country with lifelong disabilities. The Kurdistan Region is home to over 240,000 Syrian refugees.
The fourth report of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in Iraq, published last month, found that the explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices were the leading causes of casualties among the country’s children, severely injuring at least 150 between the summers of 2019 and 2021, in many cases leaving them forever disabled.
by Alannah Travers
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