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About us

Who We Are

Learn about our mission, our charter and principles, and who we are.

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How we work

See what triggers an intervention and how supply and logistics allow our teams to respond quickly.

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How we're run

Discover our governance and what it means to be an association. Find a quick visual guide to our offices around the world.

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Reports and financials

Read through our annual financial and activity reports, and find out about where our funds come from and how they are spent.

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What we do

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

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Where we work

In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.

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MSF Websites

A Global Network
Our offices around the world
Our offices around the world
Other Sites
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MSF Association

Our staff “own” and manage MSF, making sure that we stay true to our mission and principles, through the MSF Associations.

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Access Campaign

We set up the MSF Access Campaign in 1999 to push for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.

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Patient blogs

Hear directly from the inspirational people we help as they talk about their experiences dealing with often neglected, life-threatening diseases.

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CRASH

Based in Paris, CRASH conducts and directs studies and analysis of MSF actions. They participate in internal training sessions and assessment missions in the field.

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UREPH

Based in Geneva, UREPH (or Research Unit) aims to improve the way MSF projects are implemented in the field and to participate in critical thinking on humanitarian and medical action.

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ARHP

Based in Barcelona, ARHP documents and reflects on the operational challenges and dilemmas faced by the MSF field teams.

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MSF Analysis

Based in Brussels, MSF Analysis intends to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.

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MSF Supply

This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

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MSF Logistique

This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

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Amsterdam Procurement Unit

This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.

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Southern Africa Medical Unit

SAMU provides strategic, clinical and implementation support to various MSF projects with medical activities related to HIV and TB. This medical unit is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Brazilian Medical Unit

BRAMU specialises in neglected tropical diseases, such as dengue and Chagas, and other infectious diseases. This medical unit is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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MSF Medical Guidelines

Our medical guidelines are based on scientific data collected from MSF’s experiences, the World Health Organization (WHO), other renowned international medical institutions, and medical and scientific journals.

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Manson Unit

The Manson Unit is a London, UK-based team of medical specialists who provide medical and technical support, and conduct research for MSF.

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Epicentre

Providing epidemiological expertise to underpin our operations, conducting research and training to support our goal of providing medical aid in areas where people are affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care.

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Evaluation Units

Evaluation Units have been established in Vienna, Stockholm, and Paris, assessing the potential and limitations of medical humanitarian action, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of our medical humanitarian work.

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LGBTQI+ Inclusion in Health Settings

MSF works with LGBTQI+ populations in many settings over the last 25-30 years. LGBTQI+ people face healthcare disparities with limited access to care and higher disease rates than the general population.

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LUXOR

The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.

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MSF Academy for Healthcare

To upskill and provide training to locally-hired MSF staff in several countries, MSF has created the MSF Academy for Healthcare.

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Humanitarian Law

This Guide explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries.

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MSF Paediatric Days

The MSF Paediatric Days is an event for paediatric field staff, policy makers and academia to exchange ideas, align efforts, inspire and share frontline research to advance urgent paediatric issues of direct concern for the humanitarian field.

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MSF Foundation

The MSF Foundation aims to create a fertile arena for logistics and medical knowledge-sharing to meet the needs of MSF and the humanitarian sector as a whole.

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DNDi

A collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, founded in 2003 by seven organisations from around the world.

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Dhobley Vaccination Campaign

Somalia

War in Gaza:: find out how we're responding
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Our commitment to accessing and assisting people in need in Somalia remains steadfast.

Over the past four decades, our teams have responded to recurring humanitarian and health emergencies caused by conflict, climate-related events such as widespread flooding and recurring droughts, as well as outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, measles, and COVID-19. 

Today, we continue to work in hospitals in Somalia and Somaliland, providing obstetric and paediatric care, in- and out- patient nutritional support, emergency services, and tuberculosis care. Our teams also run mobile clinics providing basic healthcare in camps for internally displaced people and host communities. 
 
We carry out vaccination campaigns and respond to nutritional crises where feasible. MSF also provides resources to conduct ‘eye camps’, which reach thousands of people with eye diseases. 

A major part of our work involves specialised training for healthcare staff and capacity building, along with rehabilitating hospitals, and expanding and improving the state of water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Our activities in 2023 in Somalia

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2023.

192

192

Staff in 2023 (full-time equivalent)

€20.1 M

20.1M

Expenditure in 2023

1979

1979

Year MSF first worked in the country
MSF in Somalia in 2023 In Somalia, Médecins Sans Frontières continued to respond to the medical needs of people displaced by ongoing conflict and extreme weather events, and to support services in Ministry of Health facilities.
Somalia IAR map 2023

In 2023, the dire humanitarian situation was exacerbated when two years of drought were followed by severe floods, affecting over two million people. Around 1.2 million were displaced* and 118 died, against a backdrop of longstanding conflict and recurrent disease outbreaks.

In Baidoa, the capital of South West state, our teams provided healthcare for people displaced by conflict and flooding. At Bay regional hospital, our services included comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care, outpatient clinics, and an inpatient ward for paediatric healthcare, as well as therapeutic feeding centres. We decentralised general healthcare in seven locations within the town to facilitate referrals for maternal and child health services to Bay regional hospital for specialised care.

In Galkayo North, Puntland state, we continued to support the maternity and paediatric departments at the regional hospital and treat malnutrition and tuberculosis (TB). We also sent mobile teams to 23 camps for displaced people. In Galkayo South, we supported the Mudug Development Organization’s hospital, by running maternal and child health services, treating malnutrition and TB, and responding to emergencies.

In June, we handed over our multidrug-resistant TB project to the Ministry of Health Development in Somaliland, where our support with case identification, diagnostics and holistic care for patients since 2019 had successfully led to reduced fatality rates and improved cure rates.

We maintained basic and specialised healthcare activities in Kalabaydh in Sool region, but were forced to withdraw our services from Las Anod general hospital in July due to high insecurity.

In December, we closed our project in Dhobley, South Jubaland, close to the border with Kenya. Since 2017, our teams had delivered healthcare through mobile clinics, treating malnutrition and infectious diseases, conducting outpatient consultations and measles vaccinations, responding to cholera outbreaks, performing cataract surgery, and distributing eyeglasses.

*UNOCHA

 

in 2023

65,800

65,8

antenatal consultations

2,200

2,2

patients treated for measles

2,130

2,13

children admitted to inpatient feeding programmes
 
Somalia

Three MSF aid workers killed in fatal incident in Kismayo

Press Release 28 Jan 2008
 
Somalia

MSF aid workers involved in serious incident in Kismayo

Project Update 28 Jan 2008
 
Somalia

Two MSF aid workers freed in Bossaso

Press Release 2 Jan 2008
 
Somalia

MSF demands access to the area where the two MSF expatriates are still in captivity to check their status

Press Release 28 Dec 2007
 
Somalia

MSF asks Somali authorities for the safe and immediate release of our two staff members

Press Release 26 Dec 2007
 
Yemen

As people flee Somalia and Ethiopia, 56 dead are found on the shores of Yemen

Project Update 17 Dec 2007

Find us online

MSF Eastern Africa
msf.or.ke