After multiple security incidents directly targeting patients, staff and MSF-supported medical facilities in the area, we are left with no choice but to close all medical and humanitarian activities in Ad Dhale governorate. Press Release - 7 Nov 2018

Central African Republic

More than 10,000 seek refuge in Batangafo hospital

Following clashes between armed groups that took place on Wednesday, 31 October 2018 in the north and centre of the Central African Republic (CAR), more than 10,000 people fled to seek refuge in the compound of a hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Press Release - 2 Nov 2018

"I was at home with my husband that day. It was during the violence and fighting. We heard screams outside and neighbours crying. “I think they’ve killed someone,” my husband said. So we shut ourselves inside. We didn’t want to open the door. Armed men threw tear gas through the window to force us out. Eight people came into our home. They threatened to kill my husband and tried to force him to rape our daughter. She was 17. He refused and they murdered him. Then they raped our daughter, and me.

When they left, I hid in the forest next to the village with my children. I didn’t sleep or eat. For a year, before coming to the clinic, I was terrified by the thought that I could have HIV.

When I went back to Kananga – my father was very sick so I decided to return with my children – I went to see MSF at the hospital where they looked after victims of sexual violence. They examined me and told me that I didn’t have HIV."

//

"J’étais à la maison avec mon mari ce jour-là. C’était pendant le conflit et les affrontements. Nous avons entendu des cris de dehors et les voisins qui pleuraient. Mon mari m’a dit : « je crois qu’ils ont tué quelqu’un ». Nous nous sommes alors enfermés dans la maison et n’avons pas voulu ouvrir la porte. Des hommes armés ont lancé du gaz lacrymogène par la fenêtre pour nous obliger à ouvrir. Huit personnes sont entrées dans la maison. Ils ont menacé de mort mon mari et l’ont obligé à violer notre fille de 17 ans. Il a refusé et ils l’ont tué. Ensuite, ils ont violé notre fille, et moi aussi.

Quand ils sont partis, je suis partie dans la forêt, à côté du village, avec mes enfants. Je ne dormais pas et ne mangeais pas. Pendant un an, avant que je ne vienne à la clinique, j’étais très angoissée à la pensée d’avoir peut être contracté le VIH.

Mais quand j’ai dû rentrer à Kananga – mon père était très malade et j’ai donc décidé de m’y rendre avec mes enfants. Je me su

Democratic Republic of Congo

Sexual violence committed by armed men in Kasai

Between May 2017 and September 2018, MSF treated 2,600 victims of sexual violence in the town of Kananga in Kasai Central, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Eighty per cent reported having been raped by armed men. Press Release - 1 Nov 2018

Democratic Republic of Congo

"When I tell this story, I see a film playing before my eyes"

MSF patients in Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo, share their stories of sexual violence. These testimonies were collected during a field visit by an MSF communications team in September 2018. Voices from the Field - 1 Nov 2018

Ethiopia

A name full of hope

Midwife Christine Tasnier and her colleagues work in the maternity ward of the 120-bed health centre MSF runs in Kule refugee camp, in Ethiopia. Around 54,000 refugees live in the camp, having fled the conflict in South Sudan. Voices from the Field - 30 Oct 2018

Honduras

“People here are deeply affected by violence, especially women”

In this extract from Desperate journey: Fleeing invisible wars in Central America, published by MSF's US office, MSF psychologist Ámbar Assaf recounts her experience and that of patients she has seen at La López clinic in Choloma, Honduras. Voices from the Field - 29 Oct 2018

Mexico

Tending deep wounds in Mexico

This extract from Desperate journey: Fleeing invisible wars in Central America, published by MSF's US office, recounts the experiences of patients treated by MSF teams in Reynosa, a common rest stop for many Central American migrants hoping to gain entry to the US, and one of the most violent cities in Mexico. Voices from the Field - 29 Oct 2018

This Honduran man (who for security reasons will remain unidentified) was forced to flee his country with his pregnant wife. They received a temporary visa in Mexico, but because of the security situation in Reynosa they decided his wife should attempt to seek asylum in the United States. The couple left for the international bridge at 5:00 a.m. She turned herself in to US immigration officials, where she was detained. Instead of hearing her case, the authorities held her until Mexican immigration officials could detain her. She is now held in jail and awaiting possible deportation, which could put her life at risk.

Central American migration

"Leaving the country to seek asylum is often the only option for survival"

Stephanie Puccetti, a humanitarian aﬀairs advisor for MSF-USA, talks about the challenges facing migrants and asylum seekers in Honduras and Mexico, and along the US border. Interview - 29 Oct 2018

Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) started working in Qayyarah in 2016. We built a field trauma hospital with an operating theatre, emergency room, pediatric, nutrition and in-patient departments along with mental health services. MSF also set up a nutrition and mental health program in the Jeda´ah Camps 5 and 6 and Airstrip camp near Qayyarah. Between March and May 2018, MSF vaccinated more than 40,000 children living in Airstrip, Jeda´ah 1-6 and Haj Ali camps against the deadly measles virus.

Iraq

Life after the war

MSF nurse Vera Schmitz blogs about her experience of working in norther Iraq since mid-July 2018. blogs.msf.org - 26 Oct 2018

Images from the changing area in the ETC of Mangina. Health workers are preparing themselves and putting on the PPE outfit to enter the high risk zone of the centre. It’s very important to meticulously check the double layered outfit so no skin is exposed.

DRC Ebola outbreaks

Ebola in the DRC: between operational trial and error and scientific uncertainty

Rebecca Grais, Research Director at Epicentre, MSF’s epidemiology arm, and Pierre Mendiharat, Deputy Director of Operations for MSF-France, offer their insights on the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This joint interview in four parts (the outbreak, social context, treatments, and vaccination) aims to show how science and practice interact around each outbreak. msf-crash.org - 26 Oct 2018

Four mothers posing in a corridor of the Hospital in Bili. All four of them are staying in the hospital with their child, that's suffering from a severe case of malaria. Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the pediatric ward already treated more than 4.000 cases of complicated/severe form of malaria.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Independent medical humanitarian assistance

We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence and impartiality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.

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Projects in Ad Dhale close due to insecurity and threats