Médecins Sans Frontières
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| Founded | 20 December 1971 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Jacques Bérès Philippe Bernier Raymond Borel Jean Cabrol Marcel Delcourt Xavier Emmanuelli Pascal Grellety Bosviel Gérard Illiouz Bernard Kouchner Gérard Pigeon Vladan Radoman Max Récamier Jean-Michel Wild |
| Type | Medical humanitarian organisation |
| Location |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Joanne Liu (president) |
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Employees
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36,482 |
| Website | msf.org |
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (pronounced [medsɛ̃ sɑ̃ fʁɔ̃tjɛʁ]), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is an international humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries affected by endemic diseases. In 2015, over 30,000 personnel — mostly local doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, logistical experts, water and sanitation engineers and administrators — provided medical aid in over 70 countries. The vast majority of staff are volunteers. Private donors provide about 90% of the organization's funding, while corporate donations provide the rest, giving MSF an annual budget of approximately US$750 million.
Médecins Sans Frontières was founded in 1971, in the aftermath of the Biafra secession, by a small group of French doctors and journalists who sought to expand accessibility to medical care across national boundaries and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. To that end, the organisation emphasises "independence and impartiality", and explicitly precludes political, economic, or religious factors in its decision making. For these reasons, it limits the amount of funding received from governments or intergovernmental organisation. These principles have allowed MSF to speak freely with respect to acts of war, corruption, or other hindrances to medical care or human well-being. Only once in its history, during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, has the organisation called for military intervention.
MSF's principles and operational guidelines are highlighted in its Charter, the Chantilly Principles, and the later La Mancha Agreement. Governance is addressed in Section 2 of the Rules portion of this final document. MSF has an associative structure, where operational decisions are made, largely independently, by the five operational centres (Amsterdam, Barcelona-Athens, Brussels, Geneva and Paris). Common policies on core issues are coordinated by the International Council, in which each of the 24 sections (national offices) is represented. The International Council meets in Geneva, Switzerland, where the International Office, which coordinates international activities common to the operational centres, is also based.
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