Global Partnerships in Action

 “We extend our deepest gratitude to all who contributed to this noble mission, including Tzu Chi, Doctors of the World, and everyone involved in making it a reality,” said Samer Arabi, director of Syria’s Idlib Health Directorate. Arabi was speaking on behalf of the Syrian government and people at the opening ceremony of the Kafr Takharim Primary Health Care Center in Idlib Governorate.

The facility, formerly known as the Kelly Primary Health Care Center, began operations in September 2025. Its story, however, dates back to the February 2023 Türkiye–Syria earthquakes. In response to this disaster, Tzu Chi launched relief efforts in Türkiye’s quake-stricken zone. Northern Syria, though also severely affected, was mired in an ongoing civil war, making it impossible for Tzu Chi volunteers in Türkiye to cross the border to provide assistance.

Moved by the plight of Syrian people who had endured years of conflict only to be struck by seismic catastrophe, Tzu Chi reached out to Doctors of the World Türkiye (Dünya Doktorları Derneği) to explore the possibility of a joint medical mission in hard-hit Idlib Governorate. The two sides signed a formal agreement in March 2023 and established the Kelly Primary Health Care Center in a displacement camp area in Kelly, Idlib Governorate. Under the partnership, Tzu Chi funded the procurement of medical equipment and supplies as well as the recruitment of medical personnel.

In terms of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, this collaboration advances SDG 17 by mobilizing and sharing financial resources, expertise, and technology (Target 17.16), and by promoting effective partnerships among public institutions, the private sector, and civil society (Target 17.17).

In fact, the partnership between Tzu Chi and Doctors of the World—also known as Médecins du Monde—goes back to the early 1990s. In 1993, the two organizations worked together to provide health assistance in Ethiopia, including rebuilding medical facilities, training health workers, establishing medical record systems, and improving pharmacy management. They cooperated again the following year to provide emergency food and medical aid in Rwanda in the wake of a civil war. Decades later, in the 2020s, the two organizations once more joined hands, this time to support vulnerable communities in war-torn Syria.

By then, Syria had been embroiled in a civil war for more than a decade, and delivering aid into active conflict zones was nearly impossible without reliable assurances of safety for both personnel and supplies. Unlike Tzu Chi, Doctors of the World Türkiye had been operating inside Syria for many years and had built strong local networks and information channels. With their experience in sustaining medical services amid ongoing fighting, partnering with them helped reduce unnecessary risks.

In 2023, the Kelly Primary Health Care Center began operating, bearing the logos of both Doctors of the World and Tzu Chi. Most of Doctors of the World’s medical sites in Syria relied on U.S. funding, but when that support was withdrawn after a change in the U.S. administration, the organization’s medical services nearly came to a halt. The Kelly center, however, remained operational. It became a faint light in the darkness, a lifeline of hope for people suffering in the midst of the conflict.

Sarah Chu (褚于嘉), from the Global Partnership and Youth Development Office at Tzu Chi’s headquarters in Hualien, Taiwan, explained that the Kelly center offered internal medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics, including prenatal and postnatal care. Though the services were basic, they were vital for vulnerable elderly people, women, and children. “They also provided psychological counseling and support,” she said. “Many people were under immense psychological strain after years of living under war conditions and being forced to flee their homes for displacement camps. Mental health support was therefore included alongside general medical care.”

In December 2024, Syria’s 14-year civil war finally came to an end. The Kelly center was no longer forced to operate under the constant threat of sudden evacuation, waiting for the fighting to pause before reopening. Even so, the burden on medical staff remained heavy. Faisal Hu (胡光中), head of Tzu Chi Türkiye, noted that “from the renewal of our partnership agreement in February 2025 through July, the center recorded more than 17,000 patient visits. These figures show how great the local need for medical care is.”

As displaced people gradually returned to their homes, patient visits to the Kelly center declined. At the same time, the original clinic, which had been built from shipping containers, showed signs of aging and deterioration. Tzu Chi and Doctors of the World Türkiye therefore asked the newly established Idlib Governorate government to help secure a more suitable facility. The authorities identified an abandoned hospital in Kafr Takharim that had fallen into disuse during the war. Following renovations, the Kelly center relocated to this new site. The facility added a laboratory and was renamed the Kafr Takharim Primary Health Care Center. With its upgraded infrastructure, it can now provide better care to the 80,000 residents in the surrounding areas.

Tzu Chi hopes the Kafr Takharim center will heal not only bodies but also hearts. Tzu Chi volunteer Faisal Hu addressed the crowd in Arabic at its opening ceremony, saying, “This center is a home for all Syrians and for anyone in need.”