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About us

Who We Are

Cholera intervention in South Kivu

Learn about our mission, our charter and principles, and who we are.

How we work

See what triggers an intervention and how supply and logistics allow our teams to respond quickly.

How we're run

Discover our governance and what it means to be an association. Find a quick visual guide to our offices around the world.

Reports and financials

Read through our annual financial and activity reports, and find out about where our funds come from and how they are spent.

Contact us

Visit this section to get in touch with our offices around the world.

What we do

Médecins Sans Frontières brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion.

View all topics Activities by country

Medical Activities

MSF Measles Vaccination in DRC

Learn about how, why, and where MSF teams respond to different diseases around the world, and the challenges we face in providing treatment.

Crisis Settings

Aden besieged

Learn about the different contexts and situations in which MSF teams respond to provide care, including war and natural disaster settings, and how and why we adapt our activities to each.

COVID-19 Project in Mons, Belgium

Learn about our response and our work in depth on specific themes and events.

Where we work

In more than 70 countries, Médecins Sans Frontières provides medical humanitarian assistance to save lives and ease the suffering of people in crisis situations.

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Africa

Asia & Pacific

Middle East & North Africa

Middle East & North Africa

Europe & Central Asia

Europe & Central Asia

The Americas

MSF Websites

A Global Network

Our offices around the world

Our offices around the world

Other Sites

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MSF Association

Our staff “own” and manage MSF, making sure that we stay true to our mission and principles, through the MSF Associations.

Access Campaign

We set up the MSF Access Campaign in 1999 to push for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.

Staff blogs

Read stories from our staff as they carry out their work around the world.

Patient blogs

Hear directly from the inspirational people we help as they talk about their experiences dealing with often neglected, life-threatening diseases.

CRASH

Based in Paris, CRASH conducts and directs studies and analysis of MSF actions. They participate in internal training sessions and assessment missions in the field.

UREPH

Based in Geneva, UREPH (or Research Unit) aims to improve the way MSF projects are implemented in the field and to participate in critical thinking on humanitarian and medical action.

ARHP

Based in Barcelona, ARHP documents and reflects on the operational challenges and dilemmas faced by the MSF field teams.

MSF Analysis

Based in Brussels, MSF Analysis intends to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.

MSF Supply

This logistical and supply centre in Brussels provides storage of and delivers medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

MSF Logistique

This supply and logistics centre in Bordeaux, France, provides warehousing and delivery of medical equipment, logistics and drugs for international purchases for MSF missions.

Amsterdam Procurement Unit

This logistical centre in Amsterdam purchases, tests, and stores equipment including vehicles, communications material, power supplies, water-processing facilities and nutritional supplements.

Southern Africa Medical Unit

SAMU provides strategic, clinical and implementation support to various MSF projects with medical activities related to HIV and TB. This medical unit is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Kenya Supply Unit

Regional logistic centre for the whole East Africa region

Brazilian Medical Unit

BRAMU specialises in neglected tropical diseases, such as dengue and Chagas, and other infectious diseases. This medical unit is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

MSF Medical Guidelines

Our medical guidelines are based on scientific data collected from MSF’s experiences, the World Health Organization (WHO), other renowned international medical institutions, and medical and scientific journals.

MSF Field Research

Find important research based on our field experience on our dedicated Field Research website.

Manson Unit

The Manson Unit is a London, UK-based team of medical specialists who provide medical and technical support, and conduct research for MSF.

Epicentre

Providing epidemiological expertise to underpin our operations, conducting research and training to support our goal of providing medical aid in areas where people are affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care.

Evaluation Units

Evaluation Units have been established in Vienna, Stockholm, and Paris, assessing the potential and limitations of medical humanitarian action, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of our medical humanitarian work.

LUXOR

The Luxembourg Operational Research (LuxOR) unit coordinates field research projects and operational research training, and provides support for documentation activities and routine data collection.

Intersectional Benchmarking Unit

The Intersectional Benchmarking Unit collects and analyses data about local labour markets in all locations where MSF employs people.

MSF Academy for Healthcare

To upskill and provide training to locally-hired MSF staff in several countries, MSF has created the MSF Academy for Healthcare.

Humanitarian Law

This Guide explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries.

MSF Paediatric Days

The MSF Paediatric Days is an event for paediatric field staff, policy makers and academia to exchange ideas, align efforts, inspire and share frontline research to advance urgent paediatric issues of direct concern for the humanitarian field.

MSF Foundation

The MSF Foundation aims to create a fertile arena for logistics and medical knowledge-sharing to meet the needs of MSF and the humanitarian sector as a whole.

DNDi

A collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, founded in 2003 by seven organisations from around the world.

Timor-Leste

MSF began working in what is now Timor-Leste in 1999 and closed its projects in 2002.

MSF first worked in what is now called Timor-Leste as the country fought for independence in 1999.

In 2000, MSF implemented a district health plan in the northern district of Baukau, which included providing basic healthcare, tuberculosis treatment, training staff, rebuilding health facilities and conducting disease surveillance. A major component of this project was providing surgical care in the hospital in Baukau.

1999

1999

MSF first worked in Timor-Leste in

Timor-Leste

East Timorese take charge

Project Update 23 Dec 1999

Timor-Leste

Restricted access to camps and slow returns

Project Update 10 Dec 1999

Timor-Leste

Up to 2,000 returnees per day

Project Update 9 Nov 1999

Timor-Leste

Some indications of malaria increase

Project Update 9 Nov 1999

Timor-Leste

MSF deeply concerned by humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka

Press Release 5 Nov 1999

Timor-Leste

Spontaneous returns expected to rise as Indonesian troops leave

Project Update 5 Nov 1999