Médecins Sans Frontières (abbreviated MSF; known as Doctors Without Borders in English) is a nonprofit private organisation created in 1971 by a small group of French doctors led by Bernard Kouchner. The organization was founded in the belief that all people have the right to medical care and that their need is more important than national borders. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.

MSF provides medical care in case of emergency and for the treatment of endemic diseases. It is active in more than 80 countries, particularly in poor third-world nations and states in war. MSF has frequently protested to the United Nations against atrocities on behalf of local communities, such as those accuring in Chechnya and Kosovo.

MSF consists of both volunteer and permanently employed staff and is funded by contributions from the general public, nonprofit organisations, corporations and governments.

Contents

1 MSF Charter 2 Dangers 3 Related articles 4 External links

MSF Charter

Médecins Sans Frontières is a private international organisation. Most of its members are doctors and health workers, but many other support professions contribute to Médecins Sans Frontières' smooth functioning. All of them agree to honor the following principles:

Médecins Sans Frontières offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.

Médecins Sans Frontières observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and demands full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.

Médecins Sans Frontières' volunteers promise to honour their professional code of ethics and to maintain complete independence from all political, economic and religious powers.

As volunteers, members are aware of the risks and dangers of the missions they undertake and have no right to compensation for themselves or their beneficiaries other than that which Médecins Sans Frontières is able to afford them.

Dangers

Aside from injuries and death associated with war zones and epidemic areas, MSF sometimes faces dangers for political reasons, such as:

Arjan Erkel, head of MSF's Northern Caucasus mission, was kidnapped in the Russian republic of Dagestan and held hostage from August 12, 2002 until April 11, 2004.

On June 2, 2004, five workers were killed in an ambush near Khair Khana in Badghis province in Afghanistan: Afghans Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah, Belgian Helene de Beir, Norwegian Egil Tynaes, and Dutchman Willem Kwint. Mullah Abdul Hakim Latifi, a spokesman for the Taliban, took responsibility for the attack. On 28 July, MSF pulled out of Afghanistan because of this incident and other security issues. In their press statement the organisation criticised both the Taliban and the U.S. military [1] (http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=8851DF09-F62D-47D4-A8D3EB1E876A1E0D). They criticised the Taliban for targeting aid workers and stated: "This threat undeniably constitutes a refusal by the Taliban to accept independent and impartial humanitarian action." Of the U.S. military, the press release said:

"The violence directed against humanitarian aid workers has come in a context in which the US backed coalition has consistently sought to use humanitarian aid to build support for its military and political ambitions. MSF denounces the coalition's attempts to co-opt humanitarian aid and use it to 'win hearts and minds'. By doing so, providing aid is no longer seen as an impartial and neutral act, endangering the lives of humanitarian volunteers and jeopardizing the aid to people in need. Only recently, on May 12 2004, MSF publicly condemned the distribution of leaflets by the coalition forces in southern Afghanistan in which the population was informed that providing information about the Taliban and al Qaeda was necessary if they wanted the delivery of aid to continue."

Paul Foreman, head of the MSF's Dutch wing, was arrested in Sudan in May 2005 for refusing to divulge documents used in compiling a report on rapes carried out by the pro-government Janjaweed militias (see Darfur conflict). Foreman cited the privacy of the women involved, and the MSF alleged Sudan had arrested him because it disliked the bad publicity generated by the report. The United Nations special representative to Sudan, Jan Pronk, echoed similar sentiments.

Carlo Urbani was formerly the president of the group's Italian chapter; he died of severe acute respiratory syndrome in March 2003.

Related articles

• Humanitarian aid
• Timeline of events in humanitarian relief and development
• Attacks on humanitarian workers

External links

• Médecins Sans Frontières International (http://www.msf.org/)
• Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia / Doctors Without Borders (http://www.msf.org.au/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Austria/ Ärzte ohne Grenzen (http://www.aerzteohnegrenzen.at/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium (http://www.msf.be/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Brazil / Médicos Sem Fronteiras (http://www.msf.org.br/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Canada (http://www.msf.ca/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Denmark / Læger uden Grænser (http://www.msf.dk/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières France (http://www.paris.msf.org/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Germany / Ärzte ohne Grenzen (http://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Greece / Γιατροί Χωρίς Σύνορα (http://www.msf.gr/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Hong Kong / 無國界醫生 (http://www.msf.org.hk/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Italy / Medici Senza Frontiere (http://www.msf.it/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Japan / 国境なき医師団 (http://www.msf.or.jp/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Luxembourg (http://www.msf.lu/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Netherlands (Holland) / Artsen zonder Grenzen (http://www.artsenzondergrenzen.nl/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Norway / Leger Uten Grenser (http://www.leger-uten-grenser.no/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Spain / Medicos Sin Fronteras (http://www.msf.es/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Sweden / Läkare Utan Gränser (http://www.lakareutangranser.se/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland / Ärzte ohne Grenzen (http://www.msf.ch/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières UK (http://www.msf.org/unitedkingdom/)
• Médecins Sans Frontières USA / Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/)

• Nobel Peace Prize
  • Official Nobel page for MSF (http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1999/index.html)
  • Médecins Sans Frontières receives the 1999 Nobel Peace prize (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_558000/558477.stm)bg:Лекари без граници

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