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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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MSF Speaking Out

Level 1 Course: How does Speaking Out Articulate with MSF’s Working Humanitarian Principles?

This is the first course in a series of MSF Speaking Out Case Studies (SOCS) courses to come. Although any of the MSF Speaking Out Case Studies could be used to teach this thematic on speaking out and humanitarian principles, the SOCS team chose the case study on “MSF and the War in the Former Yugoslavia 1991-2003” (published in 2015) because of the specifics of this case, which reveal the constraints and questions associated with striking a balance between ethics, medical ethics, humanitarian principles, and speaking out - key components of the central thematic. Ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and an international community that abandons the population are critical features of this war.

The humanitarian principles thematic includes an introduction to concepts such as: 

  • Respect for humanity and the humanitarian imperative.    
  • The normative international humanitarian framework.
  • Medical ethics including 'do no harm' and solidarity.
  • Humanitarian principles such as impartiality, neutrality, and independence, as well as some of MSF’s humanitarian principles such as accountability, and proximity.

 

The Learning Journey

What you need to know before starting the course.

Thematic Concepts Module: 

  • Learning journey and expected outcomes
  • Working humanitarian principles
  • Medical ethics
  • Normative international humanitarian framework
  • Limitations and challenges: Speaking Out and humanitarian principles 

Case Study Module: 

  • Introduction to the case study
  • MSF and the war in the Former Yugoslavia 
  • MSF and Srebrenica including after-action analysis 
  • Epilogue
  • Wrap up and next steps

Quiz, course feedback, and credentialing 

 

Approximately 4 to 6 hours
 

  • The course levels are progressive so start with the Initial Module, proceed to Level 1 and then Level 2 coursework
  • The topics are complex so plan to work over several sessions instead of all at once
  • Work at your own pace
  • Knowledge checks and evaluations must be completed to proceed
  • A learning journal is provided with reflection questions
  • Suggested readings are provided at the end of each section if you want to explore particular topics further
  • To receive the course badge and certificate, please complete all Level 1 course modules listed above
  • A quiz score of 70% or better is required
  • Upon completion of the quiz and the course evaluation / feedback, you will be able to download your certificate / badge

By the end of this course, you should gain the following competencies:

Knowledge competencies:

  1. Understand how speaking out supports (and sometimes creates tension and trade-offs with) the humanitarian concepts that comprise the foundation of MSF’s work.
  2. Understand Speaking out in MSF and the normative international framework for humanitarian action, including international law

Skills Competencies

  1. Apply critical reflective processes to speaking out dilemmas
  2. Identify, compare, and analyse some of the dilemmas highlighted in the SOCS
  3. Apply critical thinking & leadership skills to real-life contemporary dilemmas

How to enrol

All students - internal and external - must register on TEMBO, the MSF learning platform, in order to access courses. Click on the button below to access the platform.

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