Damascus, November 09 (QNA) - Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed Al Saleh praised Qatar's experience in search and rescue and disaster response, highlighting the significant progress it has made in developing specialized teams and training them in line with international standards.

In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Saleh expressed Syria's aspiration to further develop cooperation with Qatar into a long-term strategic institutional partnership focused on capacity building, knowledge transfer, training infrastructure development, and the training and qualification of Syrian search and rescue teams.

The Syrian minister noted that the Qatar International Search and Rescue Group, affiliated with the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya), has obtained the Heavy international classification under the standards of the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG).

He highlighted Qatar's investment in specialized training infrastructure, including facilities and simulation grounds designed to replicate real-world emergency response environments involving building collapses, fires, road accidents and confined-space rescue operations.

Al Saleh said Syrian institutions could draw on this expertise to strengthen their training and qualification systems, establish specialized training facilities, train instructors, and conduct joint programs and exercises. He also pointed to opportunities for exchanging expertise in organizing search and rescue teams and enhancing their technical and operational capabilities.

He said field cooperation between the two sides has translated into joint operational engagement, including the participation of a Syrian rescue team alongside the Qatari team in the response to the two earthquakes in Venezuela, as well as support provided by the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) to Syrian teams in combating wildfires along the Syrian coast in 2025.

He noted that the partnership with the Qatar International Search and Rescue Group has further strengthened the capabilities of Syrian Civil Defense teams through specialized programs to train and qualify search and rescue instructors in accordance with international standards, complemented by joint exercises and international deployments. These efforts have provided a platform for exchanging expertise, testing operational readiness and enhancing coordination and interoperability among participating teams.

The Minister stressed that the priority now is to institutionalize this expertise within Syria by developing a cadre of national instructors capable of transferring and disseminating knowledge, thereby ensuring the sustainability of national capacity-building efforts. He underscored the importance of translating Qatar’s experience into a structured and enduring partnership encompassing the exchange of experts and trainers, specialized training programs and simulation exercises, and, ultimately, the development and qualification of Syrian teams to meet the requirements for international classification.

Turning to the challenges facing Syria's emergency response system, Al Saleh cited the scale of needs relative to available resources, damaged infrastructure and response centers, aging equipment and shortages in specialized technical expertise.

He said the ministry’s priorities include rebuilding institutional and operational capacity, upgrading Civil Defense infrastructure and equipment, strengthening local response capabilities and improving coordination among agencies. He stressed that investment in equipment must be matched by training, maintenance and technical capacity to ensure effective and sustainable emergency response.

Al Saleh also highlighted efforts to build a modern, multi-hazard early warning system, including the further development of the ClimWeb platform and the adoption of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) to deliver official warnings through multiple channels. Syria’s system is also being developed around impact-based warnings designed to identify populations and infrastructure at risk and enable preventive action before hazards escalate into disasters.

He said the ministry was working with the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction to strengthen early-warning infrastructure, national capabilities and institutional coordination, in line with the international Early Warnings for All initiative. (QNA)