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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) and the Kurdistan Region-based Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) are seeking to expand cooperation in education, health and rural development, their representatives told Rudaw after a meeting in Erbil on Thursday, with the Chinese foundation praising its Kurdish partner's ability to deliver aid to people in need.
"We found that the Barzani Foundation's management is very, very good," Wu Peng, director of CFRD's International Development Department, told Rudaw's Mahdi Faraj, saying the foundation had successfully distributed 1,500 Panda Packs containing school supplies to students.
The BCF, founded in Erbil in 2005, works with refugees, internally displaced people and other vulnerable communities. It has carried out humanitarian projects inside and outside Iraq and holds consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council.
The two organizations began cooperating in 2023. Wu said Thursday’s discussions could lead to joint projects on education, health, rural development, poverty alleviation and staff training.
The partnership could also extend beyond aid projects to Chinese companies operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. BCF chairman Mousa Ahmed said the foundation wants to explore how companies can allocate part of their income to organized humanitarian projects benefiting refugees, displaced people and local communities.
“We want to benefit from [China’s] successful experience, particularly in the field of technology,” Ahmed said, adding that future projects could also target remote areas.
CFRD, founded in 1989, is a Chinese nonprofit focused on poverty reduction, rural development and humanitarian relief, with projects in China and internationally.
In May, the BCF said its projects included food and financial assistance to families, support for people with disabilities and aid to children in displacement camps, with more than 135,000 people benefiting from its Eid al-Adha projects.
