Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

History

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is a non-profit, member-based organization that began officially on December 22, 1971, in Paris, France. They are also widely known by their translated name, Doctors without Borders, and originally began with 300 members, including the 13 doctors and journalists who were the founders. The damage after the war and famine in Biafra, Nigeria is what inspired them to begin and now they also assist people globally affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Members operate on the belief that “all people should have access to healthcare regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that people’s medical needs outweigh respect for national boundaries (Who We Are).”

Timeline

• 1972 | 1st mission in Managua, Nicaragua’s after earthquake kills between 10,000 and 30,000 people.
• 1974 | 1st long-term medical assistance after the hurricane in Honduras.
• 1975 | 1st large-scale medical program for Cambodian refugees escaping Pol Pot’s rule. Considered the turning point for MSF.
• 1979 | MSF co-founder, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, leaves when the organization moves toward creating a more structured organization instead of only sending doctors to crisis zones. Kouchner later starts Médecins du Monde.
• 1980 | launch of 1st international appeal in protest against the Vietnam War.
  Also, 1st nutritional program in the Karamoja province of Uganda.
• 1988 | 1st large-scale intervention planned by 6 Operational Centres (France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Holland and Switzerland) after the earthquake in Armenia claims at least 60,000 lives. MSF is one of the 1st non-government organizations to respond.
• 1991 | Over 300,000 Somalis die in Mogadishu civil war. MSF is only foreign presence and aids refugees.
• 1994 | Over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus murdered in the Rwandan genocide. MSF calls for military intervention. MSF assists refugees and creates the largest cholera program.
• 1999 | MSF awarded Nobel Peace Prize “in recognition of the organization’s pioneering humanitarian work on several continents.,”
• 2001 | MSF starts antiretroviral therapy for treatment of HIV/AIDS in 7 countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa.
• 2003 | MSF becomes a founding partner in Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): an initiative to undertake drug development for neglected diseases.
• 2010 | MSF launches 1 of their largest interventions with 26 projects after the earthquake in Haiti; MSF and VII photo agency launch Starved for Attention multimedia campaign on global malnutrition
• 2014 | MSF launches Missing Maps project: a collaboration with the British and American Red Cross, and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team “aiming to map the most vulnerable places in the developing world.”
• 2016 | MSF stops taking funds from European Union and Member States “in opposition to their damaging deterrence policies against refugees and migrants and intensifying attempts to push people and their suffering away from European shores.” (Timeline)

Size/Scope 

MSF has over 45,000 staff members from over 150 countries working mainly in-field domestically and internationally, with around 3,700 at their headquarters. As reported in the 2017 International Activity Report, MSF worked in 72 countries, running 462 projects: approximately 57% in Africa, 18% in the Middle East, 13% in Asia, 6% in Europe, 6% in the Americas and 1% in the Pacific. Most of MSF’s funding comes from private sources as an effort to guarantee independence. In 2017, 96% was acquired from private donors, 2% from public institutions and 2% from other sources. 83% of funds are used to support their social mission, 13% for fundraising and 5% for management and general administration (Liu).

Mission

MSF’s mission is to “provide lifesaving medical care to those most in need” (Charter).

• Impartiality | To assist people based on need. The originating country, religion or political affiliations don’t matter and priority is given to those in the most serious and immediate danger.
• Independence | To evaluate medical needs, independent of political, economic or religious interests. Over 90% of funding comes in small amounts from individual private donors. MSF strives to access populations without restriction.
• Neutrality | To not support the agendas of warring parties or take sides in armed conflicts. (Who We Are)

Branding Efforts

MSF is popularly known by both their original French and translated English name. The logo includes a running man symbol. Their website display’s updated figures on aid statistics. They utilize PSA’s and even an interactive documentary to reach out to the public for assistance. Giving a glimpse at the scope of the crises around the world.

External Critiques/Internal Conflict

Not many external critiques of MSF were found. They have been reported as facing conflict with the U.S. government though, as Huffington Post particularly cites the Obama administration’s pursuit of “policies that prevent poor countries from accessing low-cost generic versions of expensive name-brand medications,” while MSF argues for looser standards and flexibility (Carter). MSF faced internal issues particularly in 2017 with cases of sexual assault by staff members, resulting in the dismissal of 19 workers total. MSF released this information in light of Oxfam’s sexual exploitation scandal in Haiti, as a way to display transparency and advise on their remedial efforts. They investigated 40 complaint cases of abuse and/or harassment, leading to the 24 cases of sexual harassment and now all complaints are internally investigated (Baker). 

With MSF also operating on a principle of neutrality, some have reported resulting moral conflicts, like having to negotiate with criminals in the interest of saving lives. MSF published a self-exposé, Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed, detailing how they “paid an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militia a $10,000-per-project registration fee to continue working in Somalia.” In this article, titled “The Big Dilemma Facing Doctors Without Borders,” 2013 MSF research director, Fabrice Weissman, stated that the MSF principle of independence was a myth. “Instead, we choose our dependencies. The only independence we have is the independence of mind” (Gugliotta).

Works Cited

Baker, Luke. “Doctors Without Borders Fired 19 People for Sexual Abuse Last Year.” Reuters. Reuters. 14 Feb 2018. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-oxfam-msf/doctors-without-borders-fired-19-people-for-sexual-abuse-last-year-idUSKCN1FY2QC. Accessed 3 Mar 2019. 

“Branding Guidelines.” Médecins Sans Frontières. Médecins Sans Frontières. https://branding-guidelines.msf.es/eng/logo.html. Accessed 3 Mar 2019. 

Carter, Zach. “Obama Has Been Fighting Doctors Without Borders For Years.” Huffington Post. Huffington Post. 30 Oct 2014. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/29/obama-doctors-without-borders_n_6068634.html. Accessed 3 Mar 2019. 

“Charter.” Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/who-we-are/principles/charter. Accessed 3 Mar 2019. 

Gugliotta, Guy. “The Big Dilemma Facing Doctors Without Borders.” Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian. April 2013. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/the-big-dilemma-facing-doctors-without-borders-4946758/. Accessed 3 Mar 2019. 

Liu, Joanne and Jérôme Oberreit. “International Activity Report 2017.” Médecins Sans Frontières. Médecins Sans Frontières. https://www.msf.org/international-activity-report-2017. Accessed 3 Mar 2019. 

“Timeline,” Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières. 27 Jun 18. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/timeline. Accessed 3 Mar 2019.