HAMZA AL-KATEAB

HAMZA AL-KATEAB - DOCTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, ACTION FOR SAMA LEAD

Dr Zahed “Hamza” is a Syrian doctor, human rights activist and public health advocate. In July 2012, when eastern Aleppo was declared a non-government-controlled area, Dr al-Kateab moved to the city and founded a new hospital: Al-Qudes Hospital. Over 4 years, he was hospital director and an emergency doctor which, in an area of 10 hospitals and with no effective health system, made him responsible for the entire population living in East Aleppo.

By building diverse, multidisciplinary networks, Dr al-Kateab was able to achieve the impossible: running a hospital while continuously under attack from - and treating the victims of - Russian and Assad regime airstrikes. Not only was he running an emergency hospital and responsible for developing policies to support the health of the community, but the Al-Qudes hospital depended entirely on funds from donors. Dr al-Kateab led on donor engagement, regularly involving them in the life cycle of projects, to ensure full transparency and trust.

In order to keep the hospital running in extraordinarily difficult circumstances, Dr al-Kateab developed strong relationships with funders, media, healthcare directorates and colleagues, which are a testament to his leadership qualities and his ability to develop strategic partnerships.

Over 4 years, Dr Al-Kateab grew the hospital staff from 15 to 110 by focusing on developing their skills and developing shared values. The hospital served 4000 beneficiaries a month and was the only one, in both government and non-government areas of Aleppo, that included a safe area for children under 5, to support the needs of working mothers. Al-Qudes was the only hospital that provided a totally separate ward for women and the only one to comply with Gender Based Violence methodology.

On 27 April 2016, the hospital was targeted. 3 staff were killed, 5 were injured and the hospital was completely out of service. By dealing with trusted media, NGOs and donors with whom he had already established strong relationships, Dr al-Kateab was able to reconstruct the hospital in 3 weeks. Moreover, he managed to secure funds to relocate the hospital to a safer place and keep the hospital running. This was now the last hospital in the besieged eastern Aleppo.

In August 2016, during the siege of Aleppo, Dr al-Kateab wrote an open letter to President Obama and Chancellor Merkel with the last remaining doctors in Aleppo, calling them to take real action against relentless attacks by Russia and the Assad Regime. He also launched a petition on ‘change.org’, calling for world leaders to prevent impending disaster in Aleppo - it reached 750,000 signatures in just a few months.

During the last month of Aleppo’s besiegement, with all other hospitals completely out of service from bombardment, Al-Qudes treated about 8000 injuries and performed 898 operations. When evacuation was decided in December 2016, over 350 injuries needed to be moved via ambulances. As manager of the only remaining hospital, Dr al-Kateab set the medical evacuation methods and procedures with the Syrian Red Crescent and International Committee of the Red Cross. 10 staff stayed with him to evacuate the wounded over 9 days. He ensured the safety of all other staff by sending them to safety outside the city. Dr al-Kateab then managed to obtain funds for the hospital to be relocated to the Aleppo countryside and gave his staff priority in recruitment.

After being forcibly displaced from Aleppo that month, Dr al-Kateab began working with NGO Syria Relief and Development as health coordinator, remotely managing a gynecology and pediatric hospital and four primary health centers in Syria. Moreover, he was the organisation’s representative in the sexual and reproductive health working group and coordinated with UNFPA on capacity building of health actors in Syria.

Dr al-Kateab’s long-term vision for the post-conflict reconstruction phase is to work with the Syrian Ministry of Health on improving Syria’s health system governance through empowering local health authorities. By working with international organizations and convening partnerships around a unified aim to help the affected population, he aims to improve the population’s access to health services.

Dr al-Kateab was featured in the documentary For Sama by his wife, Waad al-Kateab. He moved to the UK with his family in 2018 and until very recently has been working as Operations Manager at Huozhi/Amanacard, a groundbreaking scheme providing a financial lifeline to people trapped in crisis zones. Amanacard helps aid organisations to send funds for their programmes in Syria. Their work is helping fund more than 4000 health workers working in around 100 health facilities, 10 thousand displaced families and 1000 orphans families.

After receiving a Masters Degree in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr Hamza is now studying for a PHD at Kings College London. Dr Hamza is also co-founder and CEO of Action For Sama - an impact campaign which aims to raise awareness about Syria and Syrian refugees, and works towards accountability for the war crimes committed by the Syrian and Russian regimes.