BCF’s founder, the current Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masrour Barzani, established the foundation in 2005 to honor and amplify the humanitarian message of historic Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani (1903–1979). His leadership mandate was to establish an organization charged with decreasing human suffering and assisting those in need. Now with nearly 600 full-time employees, we are proud of the trust granted to us by the millions of beneficiaries we serve each year in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and beyond.
BCF currently works in 35 refugee and IDP camps and manages 11 camps at a time when multiple challenges confound humanitarian action, including: inadequate funding from the international community; the unwillingness of displaced people to return home due to ongoing security threats, severe economic uncertainty; a critical lack of jobs; and the profound impacts of COVID-19 on the vulnerable communities BCF serves.
Due to reductions in available funding, the number of international humanitarian organizations working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is decreasing, putting more stress on local organizations like BCF.
We are proud of the smiles we put on the faces of our beneficiaries and inspired by the love we see on the faces on our BCF colleagues each day. Whether they work in one of the many refugee or IDP camps we manage to provide primary health care services to those in need, or enhance educational opportunities for thousands of children, they are inspirational in their service to humanity with humility.
The core humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality are based on International Humanitarian Law and underpin how we at BCF define our humanitarian action.
Based on the number of beneficiaries and the scale of our programs, BCF is one of the Iraq’s largest humanitarian organizations. In the first six month of 2020, we have assisted 366,060 families, making up over 2 million individual beneficiaries. We have worked continuously to respond to emergencies and manage crises, including war, ISIS criminal violence, earthquakes, flooding, and the sustained displacement of millions.
When the military operation began in northeastern Syria in October 2019, BCF’s Hot Meal Program served nearly 700,000 meals to refugees forced to leave their communities and make the difficult border crossing into Kurdistan. We also set up camps and shelters, clinics, and schools, and provided mattresses, blankets, warm clothes, and other supplies to thousands who were forced from their homes by conflict.
COVID-19 has been devastating to the communities, the families, the women and children and the fathers we serve. BCF has been at the forefront of the Kurdistan Region’s pandemic response, as well as sensible efforts to curtail the spread of this dreadful disease. We are a co-sponsor of the new Intensive Care Hospital that will be used for the sickest COVID-19 patients that is currently being built in Erbil. We have also distributed 100 thousand food parcels, as we have seen extreme poverty and food insecurity rise significantly in the wake of the pandemic.
BCF has taken the lead in the systemization of humanitarian action. Service to humanity requires a willingness to always look at ways to improve and be more professional, and more effective. Each member of the BCF team commits themselves to always looking at how to improve to better meet the needs of those we serve. We also are constantly providing training, and new ways to professionalize our efforts.
Due to the enormity of the humanitarian crises that so many have endured, BCF has partnered with and supported many organizations to build the capacity of not just BCF, but of the entire humanitarian community. We have provided leadership and guidance to both local organizations based in the communities we serve, and to international organizations that have come to aid. This is a leadership role we take on with a great sense of devotion.
Thanks to the deep generosity of our many donors, we have channeled millions of dollars into humanitarian programs that build hope and human dignity. Our donors join us from all over the world, from all walks of life, yet their common commitment to humanity binds them together in a community of interest.
As BCF looks ahead to the next 15 years, we hope to continue being an important part of humanitarian efforts in the future. Our hope is that violent conflict will end, so that we can focus our efforts on health and education to foster resilience and self-reliance. Looking ahead, BCF will continue to expand its capacity to service those in need, wherever they may be in the Kurdistan Region or elsewhere in the world.
Knowing that there are children suffering without proper shelter, sufficient food, or an abundance of love, keep all of us at BCF up at night. As we pause for just a moment to celebrate fifteen years of service, we also recommit ourselves to alleviate suffering with no discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, nationality, or political ideology.
Karzan Noori Othman is the Head of Programs and Public Relations Department at the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF). In this role, he manages the public image and communications of the foundation and supervises the development and implementation of its programs. Karzan also participates in several humanitarian conferences in Iraq and around the world. While also working at BCF, Karzan is a lecturer at private universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Prior to his current position, Karzan was the Head of the Erbil Office for BCF, and a liaison officer for the French non-profit organization Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) in Iraq. He has a Master of Arts in English Literature and a diploma in International Peace Relations. Karzan was one of the key note speaker in Dubai International Humanitarian exhibition and conference (DIHAD 2019).
