Tunisian-German Cooperation Project for Volunteerism and Civil Protection Capacity Building
The Tunisian-German cooperation project for the establishment of volunteerism and the strengthening of civil protection skills has trained 4,000 volunteers since its creation, announced Colonel-Major Khemais Ben Ali, president of the project, on Thursday, to the TAP agency.
The amount of support allocated by Germany since the signing of the partnership in late 2011 has reached 60 million dinars, of which 40 million dinars were dedicated to equipment, added the official in a statement to TAP on the closing day of the cooperation program between the National Office of Civil Protection and the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, at the headquarters of the National School of Civil Protection in Djebel Jloud, in the presence of the Secretary of State to the Minister of Interior and the German Ambassador to Tunis.
In this context, the Tunisian official explained that the new policy of the civil protection institution is heading towards consolidating volunteerism among citizens, noting that volunteers are no less competent than civil protection agents in their interventions.
For his part, Colonel-Major Mounir Rayani, in charge of the technical aspect of the project, observed that 70% of civil protection interventions have recorded the participation of a dozen volunteers, affirming that this approach must be valued and generalized throughout the country.
The partnership with Germany will continue, assured Rayani, specifying that the skills of volunteer agents have gained in quality after 14 years of Tunisian-German cooperation in this field.
On her part, Sabine Lackner, representative of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, indicated that 22 associations in the field of volunteerism have benefited from the program, adding that the German agency has provided 345 tons of equipment since the start of the partnership in late 2011.
It is worth noting that white operations were carried out by volunteers during this day, simulating interventions in car fires.
