ISRAAID LAUNCHING NEW AID INITIATIVE TO TRAIN MEDICAL, MENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: The disaster-relief nongovernmental organization IsraAID has embarked on a new, international initiative to train doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers and mental-health professionals to respond to disasters. The IsraAID Humanitarian Professionals Network (IPHN) was launched mid-January 2019 in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. “IsraAID draws on Israeli social innovation and expertise to benefit people in need around the world,” said Seth Davis, executive director of organization’s branch in the United States. “We are now leveraging our organization’s unique capabilities to train professionals in the United States interested in developing life-saving skills and joining humanitarian relief missions globally, hand in hand with professionals from Israel. The network will equip skilled individuals in hands-on disaster relief experience and provide enhanced capacity if local disaster were to strike,” added Davis. Current IsraAID missions have provided assistance in multiple disasters including the November 2018 wildfires in California; violence in Uganda; cyclones in Vanuatu; and refugee crises in Greece, Kenya and Bangladesh. “IsraAID will make Los Angeles more secure by leveraging their unique expertise in disaster response to train professionals in our community,” said Los Angeles council member Paul Koretz. “I look forward to partnering with IsraAID to help them roll out their IHPN program in California.” (Jewish News Syndicate)