Following a week-long assessment visit to Kismayo General Hospital in Somalia from the 20th to the 26th of January, 2000, MSF has taken the decision to lift the suspension of its activities in Kismayo as of the 1st February, 2000.

This suspension was put in place on the 1st of December, 1999. The MSF expatriate team had previously pulled out from Kismayo on the 12th of June, 1999, due to security conditions.

MSF considers that the minimum conditions required to resume activities have been met by the community, and greatly appreciates the fact that all of the various sections of the community concerned strongly reaffirmed their willingness and commitment to support the Kismayo General Hospital to the maximum effect.

Together with the improvement of security conditions, the commitment of the Somali actors towards the Kismayo Hospital were the two major conditions for MSF to resume its operations.

It is an absolute condition for the future involvement of MSF that the whole community and their representatives are involved and contribute to the good management of the hospital. MSF has been supporting the Kismayo General Hospital since 1992.