Skip to main content
MSF outreach activities in Boma, GPAA
Content Portal

Latest

Daniel Kuju, health promotion supervisor, and Beatrice Johnson, community health educator, visit semi-nomadic communities in Labarab, Greater Pibor administrative area to conduct health awareness sessions. South Sudan, February 2024.
© Manon Massiat/MSF

Discover all our latest news, stories and publications. Use the filter to get to the content you're looking for.

 
اليمن

اخر المستجدات حول الأزمة الإنسانيّة – يناير/كانون الثاني 2018

آخر تطورات أزمة إنسانيّة 28 May 2018
 
Violence hit Paoua region
جمهورية افريقيا الوسطى

تشريد عشرات الألاف من السكان بسبب الاقتتال في باوا

أصوات من الميدان 28 May 2018
 
Aquarius Miracle
Mediterranean migration

A healthy baby boy called Miracle born on the Aquarius

Voices from the Field 27 May 2018

How we are run

We are run by MSF associations, whose members are mostly current and former field staff

Associative engagement and participation among MSF staff and members.
video

Associative engagement and participation among MSF staff and members.

The MSF Associations

We are a field-based movement engaging MSF volunteers and staff from all over the world in a shared commitment to medical humanitarian action.

Through MSF associations, members have the right and responsibility to voice their opinions and contribute to the definition and guidance of our social mission. The associations bring together individuals in formal and informal debates and activities - in the field, in general assemblies at national and regional levels, and in an annual international assembly.

Because the people making the decisions are current or former field or office staff, MSF remains relevant to the needs seen in the field, and focused on medical care and on our core principles: independence, impartiality, and neutrality.

27 MSF Associations

Today, the international MSF movement is composed of 27 associations around the world.

Each of them is an independent legal entity registered in the country where they operate. The associations elect their own board of directors and president during their General Assembly.

The associations are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Central America & Mexico (CAMEX), Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, East Africa, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Latin America, Luxembourg, Norway, South Asia, Southern Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, and West and Central Africa regional association.

grey-map

Our offices around the world

The MSF associations are linked to six Operational Centres (OC) who directly manage our humanitarian action in the field and decide when, where, and what medical care is needed.

MSF sections are offices that support our field work. They mainly recruit staff, organise fundraising, and raise awareness on the humanitarian crises our teams are witnessing. Each MSF section is linked to an association which defines the strategic direction of the section, and holds the section accountable for its work.

Some MSF sections have opened branch offices to extend this support work further. Currently there are 24 sections and 18 branch offices around the world.

Additional satellite offices exist to support our work, mainly for logistics, supply and epidemiology.

Operational Centre
The MSF associations are linked to five Operational Centres (OC) who directly manage our humanitarian action in the field and decide when, where, and what medical care is needed.
Partner Section
MSF sections are offices that support our field work. They mainly recruit staff, organise fundraising, and raise awareness on the humanitarian crises our teams are witnessing. Each MSF section is linked to an association which defines the strategic direction of the section, and holds the section accountable for its work.
Branch Office
Some MSF sections have opened branch offices to extend this support work further.
The place names and boundaries used in this map do not reflect any position by MSF on their legal status.
The place names and boundaries used in this map do not reflect any position by MSF on their legal status.

MSF International

All 27 MSF associations, as well as individuals and the International President, are members of MSF International, the association that safeguards the identity of the MSF movement.

The highest authority of MSF International, the annual International General Assembly (IGA) is made up of representatives of each association as well as of individual membership, and the International President. The International President, who is currently Dr Christos Christou, is elected by the IGA. Each representative, and the International President, has one independent vote on issues brought to the assembly for resolution.

The IGA is responsible for safeguarding MSF’s medical humanitarian mission, and provides strategic orientation to all MSF entities. It delegates duties to the International Board, and holds the board accountable for those tasks.

The International Board is made up of representatives of the Operational Centres as well as a group elected by the IGA, and is chaired by the International President.

MSF International's executive provides coordination, information and support to the MSF movement, and implements international projects and initiatives as requested. Its costs are paid by MSF’s national executive offices. Christopher Lockyear is the current Secretary General of MSF International.

MSF International is registered in Switzerland and has a secretariat called the International Office.

International General Assembly 2014
2014 International General Assembly of MSF in Athens, Greece.
© Bruno De Cock/MSF

The International President

The International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) chairs the International Board and the International General Assembly, and represents MSF International externally.

The International President is elected by the International General Assembly. They must have a medical background and can serve a maximum of two three-year terms. He or she cannot hold an executive position or sit on the board of another MSF association. The International President can serve a maximum of two three-year terms. Dr Christos Christou was elected as the International President of Médecins Sans Frontières, taking up his post in 2019.

Dr Christos Christou
Dr Christos Christou

Dr Christos Christou commenced his role as International President of Médecins Sans Frontières in the first week of September 2019. Before this, he held a number of roles in the field with MSF and with the Association in MSF Greece. Dr Christou joined MSF in 2002, where his first assignment was in Greece as a field doctor, working with migrants and refugees, before working as a doctor in an HIV/AIDS project in Zambia in 2004 and 2005. After a break from field missions for a number of years while he trained as a surgeon, from 2013 he joined MSF missions in a number of conflict zones and insecure contexts, including South Sudan, Iraq and, most recently, Cameroon, as an emergency and trauma surgeon.

Born in Trikala, a small town in central Greece, Dr Christou graduated from Aristotle University’s medical school in Thessaloniki, Greece, and has a PhD in Surgery from the Kapodestrian University of Athens. He holds a Masters in International Health - Health Crisis Management from the University of Athens and is member of its faculty.

Dr Christou later specialised in general and emergency surgery in the Surgical and Transplant Unit of Evangelismos Hospital in Athens. In 2013 he moved to London, working as a Senior Clinical Fellow in Colorectal surgery at King’s College Hospital, and in 2018 became Consultant of Colorectal and Emergency Surgery at North Middlesex University Hospital. In 2018 he was awarded Fellow of the European Board of Surgery in Coloproctology.

Dr Christou was first General Secretary, then Vice-President and finally President of MSF Greece Board of Directors from 2005 until his election as International President in June 2019. In 2022, Dr Christou was re-elected as International President for another three-year mandate, which will end in mid-2025.

The International Board

The International Board (IB) is the board of MSF International. It acts on behalf of and is accountable to the International General Assembly (IGA). As the highest associative governance body of MSF, the IGA delegates duties to the Board, as defined in the Statutes of the association.

The International Board (IB)  is intended to have mainly a guiding role, ensuring accountability and facilitating agreement within the MSF movement in a timely manner.

The IB is composed of: the International President; one representative for each operational centres (five people); six additional people elected by the IGA. Two-thirds of IB members must have a medical background. Additional non-voting members, such as a treasurer, can be co-opted by the IB depending on its needs.

The members of the International Board, in addition to the International President, are:

Portrait photo of Dr Leslie Shanks
Dr Leslie Shanks
Dr Oscar Bernal
Dr Oscar Bernal

Dr Oscar Bernal grew up and studied medicine in Colombia and has doctorate in public health from Spain. He has worked with MSF for more than 28 years in more than 20 countries, including Angola as a field doctor/surgeon, in Liberia (1995) as medical coordinator, Sudan (1996) as head of mission, Russia (1997) as project coordinator, and Guatemala (1999), Bolivia (2001), Indonesia (2007), and Colombia (2009) as a medical coordinator. Oscar also worked as a technical adviser on infectious diseases from 2003 to 2009. He has participated in several MSF associations, including MSF France and MSF Spain, and was involved in the creation and development of MSF Latin America. He works as a professor and MPH coordinator in the University of Andes, Colombia. Oscar was elected to the International Board in 2023.   

Portrait of Sam Bumicho
Sam Bumicho

Sam Bumicho has a diploma in Clinical Medicine & Surgery. After completing his medical internship at Kenyatta National Referral hospital in Nairobi in 2004, Sam started working with MSF in Kenya, first as a Project Coordinator Assistant in Mbagathi district hospital, Nairobi and later on as a clinical officer and HIV/TB contact clinician in Kibera. After he left MSF in 2016, Sam started working with Amref Health Africa. He is currently County Coordinator of Amref Health Africa’s project in the county of Tana River, Kenya.

Erastus Cheti
Erastus Cheti
A photo of Dr Ali Ouattara speaking at an event.
Dr Ali Ouattara
Dr Isabelle Defourny
Dr Isabelle Defourny
Portrait of Paula Gil
Paula Gil
Dr Saleem Kassam
Dr Saleem Kassam
Profile photo of woman smiling, Katrin Kisswani
Katrin Kisswani
Yvan Legris
Yvan Legris

Yvan Legris joined the International Board as Treasurer in January 2017. Prior to joining MSF, he spent over 30 years at HR Consulting firm Aon Hewitt where he became the global Chief Executive of the consulting division in 2012. Yvan is an actuary by profession and has been pursuing a Masters in Humanitarian Action at the CERAH since September 2016. He has been a volunteer advisor on HR projects to the MSF International Office since April 2016. He was born in Mauritius and lives in London.

Yves McGale
Yves McGale
A portrait photo of Dr Micaela Serafini.
Dr Micaela Serafini
Portrait of Sarathi Rajendran
Parthesarathy (Sarathi) Rajendran
Anchor Links
Hero Image
Mental Health in Jammu & Kashmir
Headline
Run by MSF staff, for our patients
Background
Image
Eyebrow
How we're run
Hero Alignment
center
Schedule content for publication
Off
Description
We are run by MSF associations, whose members are mostly current and former field staff. The associations are linked to Operational Centres (OC) who directly manage our humanitarian action. All MSF associations, as well as individuals and the International President, are members of MSF International.
Select caption
Short caption
Use a custom breadcrumb
No
 
Libya

Dozens of refugees and migrants wounded after trying to escape horrific captivity conditions

Press Release 25 May 2018
 
Patrick Durrant, MSF PC, Sulaymaniyah
العراق

استعداد دائم للمستشفيات، إذ لا يمكنك تنبؤ بما قد يحصل بعد يوم أو بعد ساعة أو حتى بعد دقيقة

أصوات من الميدان 25 May 2018
 
Patrick Durrant, MSF PC, Sulaymaniyah
Iraq

“Hospitals must always be prepared; you never know what will happen”

Voices from the Field 25 May 2018
 
Nigeria: Fighting the worst meningitis C epidemic in nine years
نيجيريا

مكافحة أسوأ تفشٍ لالتهاب السحايا منذ عام 2008

تحديث حول مشروع 25 May 2018
 
Post Operative Care in South Mosul, Iraq
العراق

آخر مستجدات الأزمة الإنسانيّة في شمال البلاد - يونيو/حزيران 2017

آخر تطورات أزمة إنسانيّة 25 May 2018
 
Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Bikoro
DRC Ebola outbreaks

MSF response to second Ebola outbreak in DRC since 2016

Project Update 23 May 2018
 
Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Community
Bangladesh

“This feels more like an emergency room than a normal delivery room”

Project Update 23 May 2018
 
Tal Abyad Hospital
Syria

Seeking to assist Syrians, wherever they are in need of help

Press Release 23 May 2018
 
Rohingya camp expansion
Rohingya refugee crisis

Crisis update – May 2018

Crisis Update 23 May 2018
 
Snakebites in Paoua
Snakebite

Governments slated to vote on first-ever resolution at World Health Assembly

Statement 23 May 2018
 
Yambio Test and Treat " HIV Programme

남수단

23 May 2018
 
Yellow Fever Vaccination Campaign in Kinshasa

콩고민주공화국

23 May 2018
 
CAR - Slideshow: Multi-antigenes Vaccination campaign - 09

중앙아프리카공화국

23 May 2018
 
Situation in Borno state, November 2016

나이지리아

23 May 2018
 
Lake Tchad Crisis: Responding to the humanitarian consequences of violence  (Extreme North Cameroon)

카메룬

23 May 2018
 

미얀마

23 May 2018
 

이라크

23 May 2018

Topics Portal

Médecins Sans Frontières brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion.

We treat patients suffering from a wide array of illnesses and health needs. Here you will find some of the main needs we see and what we do about them.

Discover the main crises we work in, the consequences faced by affected people and challenges in delivering care.

 
Democratic Republic of Congo

One fewer mother every 25 minutes

Project Update 23 Dec 2014
 
Maternal and child healthcare project in Yambio, South Sudan
South Sudan

Improving maternal outcomes with community outreach

Voices from the Field 7 Jan 2015
 
Dr Tane Luna Ramirez
International Women's Day

Why adolescent health?

Project Update 2 Mar 2015
 
Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Community
Bangladesh

“This feels more like an emergency room than a normal delivery room”

Project Update 23 May 2018
 
Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Community
بنغلاديش

"هذا المكان أشبه بغرفة طوارئ منه بغرفة ولادة"

تحديث حول مشروع 25 Jun 2018
 
Maternity Hospital in Khost, Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Treating mums and babies in Khost, Afghanistan

msf.org 26 Jan 2018
 
South Sudan

“I left my namesake in Old Fangak”

msf.org 23 Jan 2018
 

Slideshow: Giving birth in Central African Republic - Sonia's story

Voices from the Field 27 Mar 2014
 
Burundi

Women are still suffering from the backyard disease

Project Update 15 Feb 2013
 
International Women's Day 2017
Website

No woman should die to give birth

msf.org
 
Salma*
Website

Because I'm a woman

msf.org
 
Revolting attack on pregnant women and babies
Afghanistan

“They came to kill the mothers” in Kabul maternity hospital attack

Voices from the Field 14 May 2020
 
Revolting attack on pregnant women and babies
أفغانستان

جاءوا ليقتلوا الأمهات في الهجوم على مستشفى الأمومة في كابول

أصوات من الميدان 14 May 2020
 
Revolting attack on pregnant women and babies
Afghanistan

Fifteen mothers confirmed killed in Kabul maternity wing attack

Project Update 3 Jun 2020
 
Revolting attack on pregnant women and babies
أفغانستان

تأكيد مقتل 15 أمّ في الهجوم على قسم الأمومة في كابول

تحديث حول مشروع 4 Jun 2020
 
Giving birth in DeB
Afghanistan

“As midwives in Afghanistan, we are the silent leaders of our country.”

Voices from the Field 10 Jun 2020
 
Giving birth in DeB
أفغانستان

"القابلات في أفغانستان قائدات من خلف الكواليس في بلادنا"

أصوات من الميدان 14 Jun 2020
 
Women and girls prevented from having a safe abortion
Safe abortion care

Putting patients first for safe abortion care

Interview 18 Nov 2021
 
Self-care: Different People
Women's health

Practicing self-care: empowering women to manage their own health

Project Update 4 Mar 2021
 
Self-care: Different People
صحّة المرأة

الرعاية الذاتية: تمكين النساء لإدارة صحتهنّ بنفسهنّ

تحديث حول مشروع 8 Mar 2021
 
Giving birth in DeB
Afghanistan

MSF withdraws from Dasht-e-Barchi following attack on patients and staff

Press Release 15 Jun 2020
 
Giving birth in DeB
أفغانستان

أطباء بلا حدود تنسحب من دشت برجي عقب هجوم استهدف المرضى والموظفين

بيان صحفي 16 Jun 2020
 
Revolting attack on pregnant women and babies
Afghanistan

Revolting attack on maternity ward kills pregnant women and babies in Afghanistan

Press Release 13 May 2020
 
Revolting attack on pregnant women and babies
أفغانستان

هجوم فاجع على قسم الأمومة يقتل نساء حوامل وأطفال في كابول

بيان صحفي 13 May 2020
Cholera intervention in South Kivu
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

Learn more
Headline
What we do
Background
None
Info Page Type
Topic Portal Page
Schedule content for publication
Off
Description
We treat patients suffering from a wide array of illnesses and health needs. Discover the main needs we see and what we do about them. Explore some of the main crises we work in, the consequences faced by affected people and the challenges in delivering care.
Select caption
Short caption
 
Boost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan

Afeganistao

22 May 2018
 
Boost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan

アフガニスタン

22 May 2018
MSF Logistique - Bordeaux
How we work

How we deliver medical humanitarian assistance

Everywhere we work, the circumstances are unique. Nonetheless, our programmes generally follow a common set of practices designed to make sure our resources and expertise are used to maximum effect.

 

Learn more