{"id":11089,"date":"2023-02-15T19:36:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T18:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/?p=11089"},"modified":"2026-09-05T08:26:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T07:26:56","slug":"an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire’s coordinator in Iraq since 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

What do you do out there?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I coordinate HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. I am responsible for several teams, made up of different technical trades and support functions. I am also in charge of programme management, financial matters and reporting our work to funders.<\/p>\n

What teams are there on the ground?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

There are support teams (finance, logistics, procurement, human resources and so on) and clearance teams. Some deminers were trained recently by HAMAP-Humanitaire, others have many years of experience in mine action. They are local Iraqi staff and also expatriates who advise and support the technical staff on clearance work, as well as on organising operations and on quality control, to make sure clearance activities take place in the best possible conditions.<\/p>\n

What are the different phases of the project?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The programme began in 2019. The first step was to find a reliable local partner. Once that partner was identified, the task was to run several projects, step by step, to allow the organisation to strengthen its technical and organisational skills. Today our local partner, Shareteah Humanitarian Organization, is one of the most active NGOs in mine action in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Why does the project matter to local people?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The project aims to raise local people's awareness of the risks of explosive ordnance through education sessions, in order to reduce mine-related accidents in the areas where HAMAP-Humanitaire works. We work with children and with adults, building their knowledge of mine action through games and virtual reality headsets. The project also aims to identify contaminated areas in the Sinjar district, where remnants of mines and unexploded ordnance are found, to prepare the ground for the clearance teams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Why did you choose to go to Iraq?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I chose to go to Iraq because I specialised in the Middle East during my studies. I did not have Iraq particularly in mind, but it was a happy coincidence. And I discovered a country rich in many cultures, traditions and religions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

What is life like out there?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The life of a humanitarian worker in Iraq is a fairly exciting one, made up of travel across the country and very absorbing work. It is an extremely rich social environment, where you meet a great many passionate people, Iraqi and foreign, working in the humanitarian field, in research or in journalism.<\/p>\n

An anecdote about life in Iraq?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

People often underestimate how diverse Iraq is. It is not unusual to find yourself facing Iraqis who cannot talk to each other because they have no language in common. I have found myself acting as an interpreter between an Iraqi who spoke Arabic and another who spoke Kurdish and English. I ended up translating from English into Arabic for an Iraqi Kurd who could not speak with an Iraqi from the south of the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nAn interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire's coordinator in Iraq since 2019 - HAMAP Humanitaire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire's coordinator in Iraq since 2019 - HAMAP Humanitaire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HAMAP Humanitaire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONG.HAMAP.Humanitaire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-15T18:36:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-05T07:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"718\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ONG_HAMAP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ONG_HAMAP\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire’s coordinator in Iraq since 2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-15T18:36:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-05T07:26:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":474,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire's coordinator in Iraq since 2019 - HAMAP Humanitaire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-15T18:36:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-05T07:26:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png\",\"width\":718,\"height\":494},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire’s coordinator in Iraq since 2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"HAMAP Humanitaire\",\"description\":\"ONG de solidarit\u00e9 internationale d\u2019aide au d\u00e9veloppement\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"HAMAP-Humanitaire\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/logo-yoast-696x696px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/logo-yoast-696x696px.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"HAMAP-Humanitaire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hamap-humanitaire.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ONG.HAMAP.Humanitaire\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ONG_HAMAP\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ong_hamap_humanitaire\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@hamap-humanitaire2734\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/hamap-humanitaire\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire's coordinator in Iraq since 2019 - HAMAP Humanitaire","description":"Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire's coordinator in Iraq since 2019 - HAMAP Humanitaire","og_description":"Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.","og_url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/","og_site_name":"HAMAP Humanitaire","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONG.HAMAP.Humanitaire\/","article_published_time":"2023-02-15T18:36:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-05T07:26:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":718,"height":494,"url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ONG_HAMAP","twitter_site":"@ONG_HAMAP","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire’s coordinator in Iraq since 2019","datePublished":"2023-02-15T18:36:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-05T07:26:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/"},"wordCount":474,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png","inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/","url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/","name":"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire's coordinator in Iraq since 2019 - HAMAP Humanitaire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png","datePublished":"2023-02-15T18:36:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-05T07:26:56+00:00","description":"Zakaria coordinates HAMAP-Humanitaire's activities in Iraq. He talks about his teams, the phases of the programme and daily life in the country.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Capture-decran-2023-02-22-a-19.19.58.png","width":718,"height":494},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/an-interview-with-zakaria-hamap-humanitaire-coordinator-in-iraq-since-2019\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An interview with Zakaria, HAMAP-Humanitaire’s coordinator in Iraq since 2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/","name":"HAMAP Humanitaire","description":"ONG de solidarit\u00e9 internationale d\u2019aide au d\u00e9veloppement","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#organization","name":"HAMAP-Humanitaire","url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/logo-yoast-696x696px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/logo-yoast-696x696px.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"HAMAP-Humanitaire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONG.HAMAP.Humanitaire\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ONG_HAMAP","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ong_hamap_humanitaire\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@hamap-humanitaire2734","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hamap-humanitaire\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11187,"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11089\/revisions\/11187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hamap-humanitaire.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}