The Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC), an affiliate of the World Jewish Congress, has been continuing its crisis management work with various local Jewish communities in response to the recent coronavirus outbreak. The LAJC’s crisis management team, which has existed for four years, has organized and trained 700 volunteers from across 30 communities and put leaders of the crisis management team in contact with local health professionals. The professionals have led a variety of webinars to educate the community about the coronavirus.
Danilo Gelman, who oversees crisis management operations for the LAJC, credited the communities’ efficient training, fast application of protocols, and quick activation of teams. He added that the LAJC’s training and support had improved numerous communities’ capabilities to face difficult situation
Gelman credited the LAJC’s success to its ability to plan for a range of scenarios, which they were able to do effectively after talking to leadership in countries where the coronavirus crisis started earlier, such as Italy and Israel.
Rodolfo Levin, the president of the Jewish community of the Argentinian city of Salta, said his group developed a crisis plan in response to the pandemic with the help of LAJC. He noted that they’ve been “working with the Latin American Congress and World Jewish Congress in training and counseling with Danilo Gelman in his visits to the community.”