Czech Republic opens health clinic, bakery in Shingal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A health clinic and bakery supported by the Czech consulate were opened in Shingal on Sunday.

"[The] Czech Republic is focusing on improving access of population to education, healthcare, to services including taking care of sanitation and water, and also trying to provide some level of vocational training so they improve their chances for job opportunities." Michal Svoboda, the country’s Consul General to Erbil told Rudaw on Sunday.

The construction of the clinic, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Czech consulate, started in 2019 and was handed over to local authorities on Sunday.

"I think that people in Sinjar (Shingal) and the Yazidi population have been suffering a lot" Svoboda told Rudaw.  "This is very important for them to return to their places of origin to be provided security, to be provided access to services, to education to medical care, health care.”

Shingal, the heartland of Iraq's Yezidi minority, was overrun by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, when the terror group launched a brutal genocide against the ethno-religious community. Much of the district still lies in ruins.

Medical centres and equipment are scarce due to a lack of reconstruction in the area. Yezidis previously told Rudaw English that an outbreak of coronavirus would spell "disaster" for the area, still struggling to rebuild after its liberation from ISIS.  

More than 600 people have infected with coronavirus and 34 people have died in recent weeks, according to Shingal's health directorate.