Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany

01/15/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/15/2025 04:22

New partnerships between German and Syrian hospitals

Development Minister Schulze in Damascus New partnerships between German and Syrian hospitals

Press release 15 January 2025 | Development Minister Svenja Schulze arrived today in the Syrian capital, Damascus. She will be talking to Syria's transitional government and to international and local aid organisations to identify how Germany can support the development of a peaceful, stable and inclusive Syria following the fall of the brutal Assad regime. Minister Schulze already announced one important element: a plan to launch a number of new German-Syrian hospital partnerships. Thousands of doctors with Syrian heritage, who are currently working in Germany, are keen to get involved in recovery efforts in Syria. One of them is joining the delegation accompanying Minister Schulze on her visit to Syria. During that visit, she will meet representatives of Syrian civil society and also visit projects focusing on a hospital, a school and a neighbourhood of Damascus that sustained extensive damages during the civil war.

Development Minister Schulze in Damascus - new partnerships between German and Syrian hospitals (Arabic version)

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Minister Svenja Schulze said, "After over 50 years of dictatorship and 14 years of civil war, Syria now has the chance of peaceful and stable development. Whether that development succeeds remains to be seen. But it would be wrong of us not to use this historic window of opportunity to support Syria in embarking on a peaceful new beginning. That new beginning will only be successful if people in Syria are able to feed themselves, send their children to school and have access to healthcare. Germany can do a lot to support the new beginning for the Syrian society. Because we are not starting from zero. We are able to build on our existing contacts and close cooperation with aid organisations in the country. And we can draw on the wealth of experience offered by Syrians who are living in Germany and who want to support the process of recovery in their former home country."

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Refugees from Syria in a UNHCR refugee camp

Copyright© Ute Grabowsky/photothek.net

The hospital partnerships programme, funded by the BMZ, currently brings together hospitals in Germany with hospitals in 52 partner countries. Now it is to be expanded to include new partnership arrangements between German and Syrian health facilities. The aim is to share knowledge and experience. Doctors from Germany can visit Syria to conduct medical training courses or to train their Syrian colleagues in using new equipment. And Syrian doctors can come to Germany for training on both medical and organisational issues. Experiences with hospital partnerships in other countries have shown that the relationships forged remain long after the programme has ended and benefit doctors on both sides of the partnership in their day-to-day work.

Syria's health sector has traditionally been very strong, yet it faces enormous challenges. Under the Assad regime, many hospitals in areas controlled by opposition forces were deliberately bombed so as to cut people off from any kind of health provision. Over a third of hospitals are no longer able to fully function. And over half of all health workers have fled the country, leaving the hospitals that do remain short-staffed. This is where the new hospital partnerships could help, by providing training and equipment.

Currently 5,800 doctors with Syrian citizenship are working in Germany. And there are many more who have gained German citizenship. Added to that are over 2,000 nursing and caring professionals. Many of them have got in touch with the BMZ because they want to help. One of them, an eye specialist born in Aleppo and now living in the German city of Dortmund, will be joining Minister Schulze today to try and identify opportunities for cooperation. The Development Ministry will also be staging a conference in Berlin on 12 February 2025 where doctors and representatives of hospitals and aid organisations can begin gathering ideas for launching new German-Syrian hospital partnerships. What medical topics will be addressed will depend on what Syria itself needs and on what skills and services the partners in Germany can offer. One thing is clear: it is crucial to include all regions of Syria, both men and women, and all sections of society.

Minister Svenja Schulze said, "I can understand that Syria's new rulers are keen to regain the skilled workers and professionals who fled the country. But Germany also has an interest in retaining them, because they play such a vital role in our health system in particular. In the end, it comes down to what these skilled workers want for themselves. When I talk to the Syrian diaspora in Germany, I sense a great motivation to get actively involved in Syrian society's new start. Many doctors working in Germany want to support people in Syria. With the launch of these German-Syrian hospital partnerships, we want to make both things possible. We want those living in Germany to be able to support initiatives in Syria."

After the fall of the Assad regime, the Development Ministry is supporting efforts to stabilise Syria and get its society off to a fresh start. The main focus will be on access to education, health, incomes for people in dire need, safeguarding land and property rights and strengthening Syrian civil society. Projects are being implemented not with the Syrian authorities but exclusively through UN aid agencies and non-governmental organisations.

If you want to get involved in the new hospital partnerships or find out more about the programme, further information is available from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ) at www.hospitalpartnerships.org(External link).