In Haiti, the number of young people, especially women and girls, who report experiencing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is alarmingly high, especially in the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince. Yet, the issue is not widely discussed, and SGBV cases are likely underreported due to stigma and shame, as well as fear of reprisal from perpetrators or the community. At the same time, the services that are available for survivors, especially for minors (under the age of 18), are insufficient and inadequate. Photo Story - 12 Jul 2017

La route entre les village de Kinyandoni et Kiwanja, situés à environ 70km au nord de Goma, dans la province du Nord-Kivu, en République démocratique du Congo, le 19 décembre 2015. / The road between the villages of Kinyandoni and Kiwanja, located about 70km north of Goma in the province of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on December 19th, 2015.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Release our colleagues abducted four years ago

Despite our efforts, and the escalation in violence in DRC and more particularly in North Kivu, MSF has still not ascertained the whereabouts of our three colleagues. Press Release - 11 Jul 2017

“In Abs hospital, the wards are bursting at the seams, as our medical teams do everything they can to meet people’s urgent health needs. What’s happening in Abs sums up the current state of Yemen. More than two years after the conflict escalated, the country has been torn apart. Many health facilities are not functioning, or are short of staff and medical supplies, and the health system has collapsed.” Roger Gutiérrez, MSF field coordinator in Abs, Yemen

Yemen

“Some families have to choose between taking a child to hospital or feeding the others”

In Abs hospital, the wards are bursting at the seams, as our medical teams do everything they can to meet people’s urgent health needs. Voices from the Field - 10 Jul 2017

Saleh Mohammed, aged 57, from Sa’ada, is living in a displaced setting near Abs, Hajjah governorate. He is in Al Khamees health centre holding his two-year-old daughter, who has been exposed to war for most of her life: she was born in January 2015. Most of her siblings are dead.

Yemen

Urgent need for improved water and sanitation to curb cholera

“In Abs district, our teams are seeing an extremely poor sanitation situation and insufficient access to clean drinking water” Press Release - 10 Jul 2017

Nigeria

On the move and unable to move because of conflict

“We settled here because we thought it was a safer place. We don’t think it is safe enough to go back there yet.” Voices from the Field - 7 Jul 2017

The last two functional ambulances in Al-Marj neighbourhood (in the East Ghouta besieged area near Damascus) were destroyed beyond repair in an aerial bomb attack on Monday 05 December 2016. They were parked in the hospital’s warehouse/garage, very near to the makeshift hospital’s location. Two hospital cars, used to transporting supplies and medical personnel, were also destroyed in the blast. The lack of ambulances will have an impact on the ability to quickly treat wounded when there is bombing or shelling in the area, but above all it will affect the capacity to refer the most sick patients to larger secondary referral hospitals. The makeshift hospital in Al-Marj is not equipped for complex or long-term in-patient hospital care, and this could have a big impact on the ability to refer patients for appropriate secondary care.

Global health

MSF urges G20 to take action on health issues

“The G20 leaders need to improve people’s access to medical care and turn their words into action.”
Press Release - 6 Jul 2017

Khansa hospital destroyed during the battle for Mosul.

Iraq

Medical care in West Mosul: “There are no heroes in this story, only victims”.

When Ahmed* arrived at MSF’s field hospital south of Mosul, Iraq, many of the hospital’s staff burst into tears. For years, Ahmed, a skilled nurse, had been their colleague, caring for the sick and injured of West Mosul but now he was their patient and in need of urgent medical care. Voices from the Field - 6 Jul 2017

Mary in clinic with her son David.
“All I was able to take with me was one jerry can,” says Mary, who is sitting in the waiting area of the MSF clinic that was setup within days of the fighting. She holds her sick two-year-old son David in her arms as she explains that her house has been burnt and she had to beg for plastic sheeting while inside the camp so that her family of six could have any shelter at all. With her house in town destroyed and all her possessions stolen, her family’s future is not clear. “We have nothing to build a new house with,” she says.

South Sudan

Malnutrition on the rise in Pibor

The number of children suffering from acute malnutrition around the town of Pibor has trebled in a year and is likely to rise. Project Update - 5 Jul 2017

Democratic Republic of Congo

MSF provides emergency medical care in conflict-affected Kasai region

Since 10 May, MSF has cared for 198 patients in its emergency department in Kananga, a city of 750,000 people in Kasai Central region. Project Update - 5 Jul 2017

Central African Republic

Zemio, a new town under fire

"The inhabitants of Zemio had no time to take anything with them when the shooting started on Wednesday morning.” Press Release - 4 Jul 2017

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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Against their will