The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan hosted the first joint regional training event to simulate the multidisciplinary humanitarian response. During the period from December 3, 2023 to December 6, 2023, a group of twenty-seven students from the School of Medicine participated in this important training course.
According to a statement from the World Health Organization, the simulation training, which Jordan is hosting through the partnership between the World Health Organization and Harvard University, is a pioneering training initiative aimed at strengthening multidisciplinary humanitarian response capabilities in the Middle East and Africa regions.
The exercise is presented every year to professionals from all over the world at Harvard University, and for the first time outside the American city of Boston, this training program is held in Jordan at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center.
The organization's regional director of emergency medical personnel, Dr. Samar Al-Mutawakel, indicated that the main goal of this program is to train future leaders from the Middle East and Africa regions, to give them the necessary skills to prepare for complex humanitarian crises and respond to them effectively and efficiently.She added that the event is not just a training process, but rather a very important step towards establishing a global network of skilled professionals working in the humanitarian field who are ready to face challenges, in a world that is becoming more interconnected day by day. The training program is distinguished, according to the statement, in that it combines experience and cooperation, as it includes 65 professionals and future leaders from 50 countries throughout the Middle East and Africa regions, along with representatives of the World Health Organization and its regional offices for the Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions, and international and local non-governmental organizations.
Also participating in the program are 21 Jordanian professionals from the Ministry of Health, the Jordanian National Center for Control of Epidemics and Communicable Diseases, the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, the Environmental Safety Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, and the Public Security Directorate (Civil Defense and the Royal Police for Environmental Protection), and 27 volunteers from students of the School of Medicine at the University of Jordan participated in the training , they received positive evaluations and certificates of participation along with other public universities. In addition to participation of 35 speakers and facilitators of high-level experts from 20 countries who shared their expertise and experiences with the participants in the simulation exercise.
The program was designed to combine theoretical knowledge and practical experience in cooperation with the Directorate of Preparedness and Response for Emergencies and Threats at the Jordanian National Center for Epidemics and Communicable Diseases Control.
Through presentations and theoretical and practical simulation exercises delivered by university professors and guest lecturers who are experts in their fields, participants will learn about the main frameworks for action in the humanitarian field, namely, human rights, livelihoods, the Sphere standards, and international humanitarian law.Lecturers focused on practical issues that arise in the field, such as personal and team security, rapid assessments, application of minimum standards for food security, shelter, water and sanitation, and operational approaches to relations with military actors in humanitarian settings.
It is worth noting that the knowledge participants gain in the educational lectures about the humanitarian field will be used during a 3-day field simulation exercise at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center, and they will participate in a complex disaster and conflict scenario that provides humanitarian workers with a rare opportunity to fully immerse themselves in Experience working in a humanitarian emergency.
Office of Clinical Training and Alumni Affairs-SOM
