Capacity Building on Emergency Medicine in the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

Training of healthcare professionals who respond to disasters and emergencies in the OIC member countries

As a continuation of the activities initiated at the end of 2017 as part of TIKA’s Emergency Medicine Capacity Building Program (ATKAP), Sudan and Turkey continue to collaborate in carrying out training activities for other developing countries. The first implementations of the ATKAP programme were carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ATKAP includes the implementation of short-term modules, such as emergency medical aid, first aid practices and pre- and post-disaster organization. 

The aim of the programme is to increase human capacity in emergency medical interventions and to ensure the sustainability of the project by creating trainer capacity. Providing training in third countries through human capacity created for Sudan is among the objectives of building disaster and emergency resilience through international cooperation. These activities will also contribute to the OIC’s emergency response initiatives. 

The expert trainer pool needed by Sudan to fulfil its leadership role in the field of emergency health services under OIC, has been created, and training has started in other OIC member countries. As of March 2020, ‘Introduction to Disaster and Emergency Response (ADG +)’ training was provided to Djibouti, Chad, Somalia, Guinea, Gambia and Niger by Sudanese and Turkish experts. The demands within the OIC countries where TİKA Program Coordination Offices are located were evaluated, taking into account the difficulties of the third countries' training. A total of 172 healthcare professionals working in these six countries participated in the training. The objective is to encourage them to train in their own country by creating the capacity of at least five local trainers in each country. Thus, emergency response capacity has been increased (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 3) and health services, which is a public service, have been improved (SDG 6).  

Demand, need, and ease of coordination were determined as the basic parameters in choosing the countries where the programme would be implemented. TIKA Program Coordination Offices in the countries where the projects are implemented provided coordination in the field with the relevant national authorities. Overall coordination of the project was provided by TIKA. Allowances, logistical costs and equipment costs were shared by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey and TIKA. 

In the first phase of the project, a total of 231 Sudanese healthcare professionals received ADG + training, of whom 58 were selected among them for training of trainers. In the second phase, a total of 172 healthcare personnel received ADG + training for six of the 12 countries (Chad, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Niger and Somalia), and five trainer candidates from each country were chosen. ADG+ training sessions are designed and implemented by the Turkish Ministry of Health. Training sessions in Algeria, Cameroon, Libya, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda have been planned for 2020; however, the COVID-19 outbreak will cause delays. Trainings will continue as pandemic conditions lessen. 

Priority has been given to building local trainer capacity in each country, especially in Sudan. With the local institutions adopting the project, the training to be carried out by the local trainers in their country will be supported. In addition, the fact that Sudanese local trainers, trained in approximately one year, take an active role in the training organized in the third country and in their own country, and that the other countries use their gains are the most important output of the project. 

This programme is also implemented in the Balkan region. Within the scope of the project, disaster and emergency, and first aid training of trainer capacity were created in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although a first aid trainer team from Bosnia and Herzegovina was planned to implement training in Croatia in March 2020, training was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it is envisaged to organize disaster and emergency response training in Bosnia and Herzegovina by local trainers, with the participation of healthcare professionals from Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. 

In addition, as part of an ongoing project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the building of local training of trainer capacity continues in nature search and rescue, and urban search and rescue. Therefore, the project can be implemented in different regions. 

Upon request, it is possible to implement the program in every region of the world. Partner’s demand is the most important and initiating factor for the implementation of the program with other stakeholders, in line with TIKA's demand-oriented working principles. It is expected that programme implementation will lead to local ownership, adaptability and sharing experience with partner countries.