International Financial Report 2010
Objectives and policies
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation. We deliver emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, exclusion from healthcare and natural disasters. MSF offers assistance to people based on need and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.
In order for MSF to get access to and care for those most in need, MSF’s operational policies must remain scrupulously independent of governments, as well as religious and economic powers. We rely on private individuals for the majority of our funding. In the field, we conduct our own assessments, manage projects directly and monitor the impact of our assistance. We also campaign for improved access to medicines and fund research into the development of drugs for neglected diseases.
MSF is a volunteer organisation. Each year about 6,600 doctors, nurses, logistics specialists and engineers of all nationalities leave on field assignments to join over 25,000 staff in the countries where we provide assistance.
Organisational structure
Founded in Paris in 1971, MSF has become an international organisation with 19 national offices throughout the world. Each national office is an association. Twice a year the president of each national office attends the
MSF International Council, an association registered in Switzerland. This Council has, among others, the responsibility to promote accountability and transparency within the MSF movement; these accounts are a
reflection of that responsibility and illustrate the financial situation of the movement as a whole.
