Editing Médecins Sans Frontières (section)

==History==

===1967 to 1970 – Biafra===
[[File:Starved girl.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A child with [[kwashiorkor]] during the [[Nigerian Civil War]]]]

During the [[Nigerian Civil War]] of 1967 to 1970, the Nigerian military formed a [[blockade]] around the nation's newly [[secession|independent]] south-eastern region, [[Biafra]]. At this time, France was one of the few major countries supportive of the Biafrans (the United Kingdom, the [[Soviet Union]] and the United States sided with the Nigerian government), and the conditions within the blockade were unknown to the world. A number of French doctors volunteered with the French [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]] to work in hospitals and feeding centers in besieged Biafra.<ref name="creation" /> One of the co-founders of the organisation was [[Bernard Kouchner]], who later had a career in French politics, rising to the position of [[Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)|Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs]], which he held 2007–2010.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

After entering the country, the volunteers, in addition to Biafran [[health professional|health workers]] and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the [[Nigerian Armed Forces]], and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the blockading forces. The doctors publicly criticised the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their seemingly complicit behaviour. These doctors concluded that a new aid organisation was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries and prioritise the welfare of survivors.<ref name="creation" />
Apart from Nigeria, MSF exists in several African countries including Benin, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and others.

===1971 establishment===
The {{Lang|fr|Groupe d'intervention médicale et chirurgicale en urgence}} ("Emergency Medical and Surgical Intervention Group") was formed in 1971 by French doctors who had worked in Biafra, to provide aid and to emphasize the importance of survivors' rights. At the same time, [[Raymond Borel]], the editor of the French [[medical journal]] ''TONUS'', had started a group called {{Lang|fr|Secours Médical Français}} ("French Medical Relief") in response to the [[1970 Bhola cyclone]], which killed at least 625,000 in [[East Pakistan]] (now Bangladesh). Borel had intended to recruit doctors to provide aid to survivors of natural disasters. On 22 December 1971, the two groups of colleagues merged to form ''Médecins Sans Frontières'' (Doctors Without Borders).<ref name="hih" />

MSF's first mission was to the Nicaraguan capital, [[Managua]], where a [[1972 Nicaragua earthquake|1972 earthquake]] had destroyed most of the city and killed between 10,000 and 30,000 people.<ref>Bortolotti, above, puts the death toll at 10,000. An estimate of 15,000 to 30,000, warning of an inevitable dysentery epidemic, comes from: {{Cite journal|author=Camilo, V|year=1974|title=The Earthquake in Managua|journal=The Lancet|volume=303|issue=7845|pages=25–26|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(74)93014-1|pmid=4129001}}</ref> The organisation, today known for its quick response in an emergency, arrived three days after the Red Cross had set up a relief mission. On 18 and 19 September 1974, [[Hurricane Fifi]] caused major flooding in Honduras and killed thousands of people (estimates vary), and MSF set up its first long-term medical relief mission.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medecinssansfrontieres.com/site/site.nsf/pages/70 |title=Chronologies: Années 70 |language=fr |work=MSF-France |access-date=10 January 2006 }}</ref>

Between 1975 and 1979, after [[South Vietnam]] had fallen to [[North Vietnam]], millions of Cambodians immigrated to Thailand to avoid the [[Khmer Rouge]].<ref name="Dromi_2020">{{cite book|last1=Dromi|first1=Shai M.|url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo46479924.html|title=Above the Fray: The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector|date=2020|publisher=Univ. of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226680101|location=Chicago|page=126}}</ref> In response, MSF set up its first [[refugee camp]] missions in Thailand.<ref name="hih" /> When Vietnam withdrew from Cambodia in 1989, MSF started long-term relief missions to help survivors of [[Killing Fields|the mass killings]] and reconstruct the country's health care system.<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=751B6EAC-B3D6-11D4-B1FA0060084A6370&method=full_html |title=Cambodia's second chance |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035654/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=751B6EAC-B3D6-11D4-B1FA0060084A6370&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=10 January 2006 }}</ref> Although its missions to Thailand to help victims of war in Southeast Asia could arguably be seen as its first wartime mission, MSF saw its first mission to a true war zone, including exposure to hostile fire, in 1976. MSF spent nine years (1976–1984) assisting surgeries in the hospitals of various cities in Lebanon, during the [[Lebanese Civil War]], and established a reputation for its neutrality and willingness to work under fire. Throughout the war, MSF helped both [[Lebanese Civil War#Israeli alliance with Christian militias|Christian]] and [[Lebanese Civil War#Shia Muslims|Muslim soldiers]] alike, helping whichever group required the most medical aid at the time. In 1984, as the situation in Lebanon deteriorated further and security for aid groups was minimised, MSF withdrew its volunteers.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

==== Original founders ====
* Jacques Bérès
* Philippe Bernier
* Raymond Borel
* Jean Cabrol
* Marcel Delcourt
* Xavier Emmanuelli
* Pascal Grellety Bosviel
* [[Gérard Illiouz]]
* [[Bernard Kouchner]]
* Gérard Pigeon
* [[Vladan Radoman]]
* Max Récamier
* [[Louis Schittly]]

=== 1970s ===
[[Claude Malhuret]] was elected as the new president of Médecins Sans Frontières in 1977, and soon after debates began over the future of the organisation. In particular, the concept of ''témoignage'' ("witnessing"), which refers to speaking out about the suffering that one sees as opposed to remaining silent,<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |title=MSF's principles and identity – The challenges ahead |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=F75AB4F5-E018-0C72-093A3A517D56EB33&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035852/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=F75AB4F5-E018-0C72-093A3A517D56EB33&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=10 January 2006 }}</ref> was being opposed or played down by Malhuret and his supporters. Malhuret thought MSF should avoid criticism of the governments of countries in which they were working, while Kouchner believed that documenting and broadcasting the suffering in a country was the most effective way to solve a problem.

In 1979, after four years of refugee movement from South Vietnam and the surrounding countries by foot and [[Vietnamese boat people|by boat]], French intellectuals made an appeal in ''[[Le Monde]]'' for "A Boat for Vietnam", a project intended to provide medical aid to the refugees. Although the project did not receive support from the majority of MSF, some, including later Minister [[Bernard Kouchner]], chartered a ship called ''L'Île de Lumière'' ("The Island of Light"), and, along with doctors, journalists and photographers, sailed to the [[South China Sea]] and provided some medical aid to the boat people. The splinter organisation that undertook this, [[Médecins du Monde]], later developed the idea of [[humanitarian intervention]] as a duty, in particular on the part of Western nations such as France.<ref>Richard Seymour, ''The Liberal Defense of Murder'' (London 2008), p. 174.</ref> In 2007 MSF clarified that for nearly 30 years MSF and Kouchner have had public disagreements on such issues as the right to intervene and the use of armed force for humanitarian reasons. Kouchner is in favour of the latter, whereas MSF stands up for an impartial humanitarian action, independent from all political, economic and religious powers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=2053 |title=Dr. Bernard Kouchner and MSF: A Clarification, 22 May 2007 |publisher=Doctorswithoutborders.org |access-date=3 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927220144/http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=2053 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===1980s===
In 1982, Malhuret and [[Rony Brauman]] (who became the organisation's president in 1982) brought increased financial independence to MSF by introducing fundraising-by-mail to better collect donations. The 1980s also saw the establishment of the other operational sections from MSF-France (1971): MSF-Belgium (1980), MSF-Switzerland (1981), MSF-Holland (1984), and MSF-Spain (1986). MSF-Luxembourg was the first support section, created in 1986. The early 1990s saw the establishment of the majority of the support sections: MSF-Greece (1990), MSF-USA (1990), MSF-Canada (1991), MSF-Japan (1992), MSF-UK (1993), MSF-Italy (1993), MSF-Australia (1994), as well as Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Hong Kong (MSF-UAE was formed later).<ref name="hih"/><ref name="various">Information obtained from the various sections' websites.</ref> Malhuret and Brauman were instrumental in professionalising MSF. In December 1979, after the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet army had invaded Afghanistan]], field missions were immediately set up to provide medical aid to the [[mujahideen]], and in February 1980, MSF publicly denounced the [[Khmer Rouge]]. During the [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia]], MSF set up nutrition programmes in the country in 1984, but was expelled in 1985 after denouncing the abuse of international aid and the forced resettlements. MSF's explicit attacks on the Ethiopian government led to other NGOs criticizing their abandonment of their supposed neutrality and contributed to a series of debates in France around humanitarian ethics.<ref>{{cite conference |date=March 2009 |conference=49th Annual Meeting of the [[International Studies Association]] (ISA): Bridging Multiple Divides, EUA |location=San Francisco |last1=Kennedy |first1=Denis |title=Humanitarian NGOs and the Norm of Neutrality: A Community Approach}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Davey |first=Eleanor |title=Famine, aid, and ideology: the political activism of Médecins Sans Frontières in the 1980s |journal=French Historical Studies |year=2011 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=529–58 |doi=10.1215/00161071-1259157}}</ref> The group also set up equipment to produce clean [[drinking water]] for the population of [[San Salvador]], capital of El Salvador, after 10 October 1986 earthquake that struck the city.<ref name="hih"/><ref name="frchrono80">{{cite web |url=http://www.medecinssansfrontieres.com/site/site.nsf/pages/80 |title=Chronologie: Années 80 |language=fr |work=MSF-France |access-date=10 January 2006 }}</ref>

===1990s===
The early 1990s saw MSF open a number of new national sections, and at the same time, set up field missions in some of the most dangerous and distressing situations it had ever encountered.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

In 1990, MSF first entered Liberia to help civilians and refugees affected by the [[First Liberian Civil War|Liberian Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |work=medecinssansfrontieres.com |url=http://www.medecinssansfrontieres.com/association/annees90courte |title=Chronologie: Années 90 |language=fr |access-date=11 January 2006 }}</ref> Constant fighting throughout the 1990s and the [[Second Liberian Civil War]] have kept MSF volunteers actively providing nutrition, basic health care, and mass vaccinations, and speaking out against attacks on hospitals and feeding stations, especially in [[Monrovia]].<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |title=Liberia: War ends, but the crisis continues |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=56A60D4D-F779-4B42-B3AB662CA10C85FF&method=full_html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930020457/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=56A60D4D-F779-4B42-B3AB662CA10C85FF&method=full_html |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=11 January 2006 }}</ref>

Field missions were set up to provide relief to [[Kurd]]ish refugees who had survived the [[al-Anfal Campaign]], for which evidence of atrocities was being collected in 1991.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Choo V |year=1993 |title=Forensic evidence of Iraqi atrocities against Kurds |journal=The Lancet |volume=341 |issue=8840 |pages=299–300 |doi=10.1016/0140-6736(93)92641-6|s2cid=54356564 }}</ref> 1991 also saw the beginning of the [[Somali Civil War|civil war]] in [[Somalia]], during which MSF set up field missions in 1992 alongside a UN peacekeeping mission. Although the UN-aborted operations by 1993, MSF representatives continued with their relief work, running clinics and hospitals for civilians.<ref>{{cite web |work=msf.org |title=Somalia – Saving lives in an abandoned land |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=DE35A225-E018-0C72-0982B97BDC25E821&method=full_html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035756/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=DE35A225-E018-0C72-0982B97BDC25E821&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=11 January 2006 }}</ref>

MSF first began work in [[Srebrenica]] (in Bosnia and Herzegovina) as part of a UN convoy in 1993, one year after the [[Bosnian War]] had begun. The city had become surrounded by the [[Bosnian Serb Army]] and, containing about 60,000 [[Bosniaks]], had become an enclave guarded by a [[United Nations Protection Force]]. MSF was the only organisation providing medical care to the surrounded civilians, and as such, did not denounce the genocide for fear of being expelled from the country (it did, however, denounce the lack of access for other organisations). MSF was forced to leave the area in 1995 when the Bosnian Serb Army captured the town. 40,000 [[Bosnian Muslims|Bosniak]] civilian inhabitants were deported, and approximately 7,000 were killed in mass executions.<ref>{{cite web |year=2000 |url=http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=751B6F1E-B3D6-11D4-B1FA0060084A6370&method=full_html |title=Srebrenica five years on |work=MSF |access-date=11 January 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202035659/http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=751B6F1E-B3D6-11D4-B1FA0060084A6370&method=full_html |archive-date=2 December 2008 }}</ref>

====Rwandan genocide====
When the [[genocide in Rwanda]] began in April 1994, some delegates of MSF working in the country were incorporated into the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (ICRC) medical team for protection. Both groups succeeded in keeping all main hospitals in Rwanda's capital [[Kigali]] operational throughout the main period of the genocide. MSF, together with several other aid organisations, had to leave the country in 1995, although many MSF and ICRC volunteers worked together under the ICRC's rules of engagement, which held that neutrality was of the utmost importance. These events led to a debate within the organisation about the concept of balancing neutrality of humanitarian aid workers against their witnessing role. As a result of its Rwanda mission, the position of MSF with respect to neutrality moved closer to that of the ICRC, a remarkable development in the light of the origin of the organisation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forsythe |first1=David P. |title=International Humanitarianism in the Contemporary World: Forms and Issues |journal=Human Rights & Human Welfare |date=January 2005 |volume=5 |issue=1 |at=Article 57 |url=https://digitalcommons.du.edu/hrhw/vol5/iss1/57|archive-date=12 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312222943/https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1143&context=hrhw |publisher=Josef Korbel School of International Studies}}</ref>

[[File:Mihanda camp.jpg|thumb|250px|Aerial photograph of a Mihanda, [[Zaire]] [[refugee camp]] in 1996. Pictured are 500+ tents set up in the [[Mitumba Mountains]].]]
The ICRC lost 56 and MSF lost almost one hundred of their respective local staff in Rwanda, and MSF-France, which had chosen to evacuate its team from the country (the local staff were forced to stay), denounced the murders and demanded that a [[Military of France|French military]] intervention stop the genocide. MSF-France introduced the slogan "One cannot stop a genocide with doctors" to the media, and the controversial [[Opération Turquoise]] followed less than one month later.<ref name="hih"/> This intervention directly or indirectly resulted in movements of hundreds of thousands of Rwandan refugees to [[Zaire]] and Tanzania in what became known as the [[Great Lakes refugee crisis]], and subsequent cholera epidemics, starvation and more mass killings in the large groups of civilians. MSF-France returned to the area and provided medical aid to refugees in [[Goma]].<ref>{{cite web |title=One cannot stop a genocide with doctors |language=fr |url=http://www.msf.fr/site/actu.nsf/actus/msfen1994 |archive-date=10 December 2006 |work=MSF-France |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210082737/http://www.msf.fr/site/actu.nsf/actus/msfen1994 |access-date=7 January 2006 }}</ref>

At the time of the genocide, competition between the medical efforts of MSF, the ICRC, and other aid groups had reached an all-time high,<ref>{{cite web |last=Forsythe |first=David P. |year=1996 |title=The International Committee of the Red Cross and humanitarian assistance – A policy analysis |work=International Review of the Red Cross |url=https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/other/57jnav.htm |volume=314 |pages=512–531 }}</ref> but the conditions in Rwanda prompted a drastic change in the way humanitarian organisations approached aid missions. The ''Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief Programmes'' was created by the ICRC in 1994 to provide a framework for humanitarian missions and MSF is a signatory of this code.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ifrc.org/cgi/pdf_disasters.pl?codeconduct_signatories.pdf |title=Code of Conduct for the ICRC Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief: List of signatories }} '''ICRC'''. Retrieved 7 January 2006.</ref> The code advocates the provision of humanitarian aid only, and groups are urged not to serve any political or religious interest, or be used as a tool for foreign governments.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/conduct/code.asp |title=Principles of Conduct for The ICRC Movement and NGOs in Disaster Response Programmes |work=ICRC |access-date=7 January 2006 }}</ref> MSF has since still found it necessary to condemn the actions of governments, such as in [[Chechnya]] in 1999,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1999/msf/lecture/ |title=Médecins Sans Frontières (James Orbinski) – Nobel Lecture |work=Nobelprize.org |access-date=7 January 2006 }}</ref> but has not demanded another military intervention since then.<ref name="hih">{{cite book |last=Bortolotti |first=Dan |year=2004 |title=Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders |publisher=Firefly Books |isbn=1-55297-865-6}}</ref>

===2020s===

====Accusations of racism====

More than a thousand staffers accused the charity of white supremacy when they voiced their concerns in a 2020 petition. One staffer from Cameroon detailed her experiences with racism from the group's leaders. Many concerns involved different treatment of expatriate staff from Europe and North America, who are typically white, compared to national staff. In an interview with NPR, the president of the organisation acknowledged Doctors Without Borders was founded in racism and pledged to do better.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Doctors Without Borders Responds To Charges Of 'Racism' From Its Staff|publisher=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/07/15/864544382/doctors-without-borders-responds-to-charges-of-racism-from-its-staff}}</ref>

====Snakebite prioritisation in WHO====

MSF played an important role for including snakebite as a WHO Category A [[Neglected Tropical Diseases|Neglected Tropical Disease]] (NTD) status in, a WHO resolution and development of global strategy to decrease burden of snakebite.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Bhaumik |first1=Soumyadeep |last2=Zwi |first2=Anthony B. |last3=Norton |first3=Robyn |last4=Jagnoor |first4=Jagnoor |date=2023-08-01 |title=How and why snakebite became a global health priority: a policy analysis |url=https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/8/e011923 |journal=BMJ Global Health|volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=e011923 |doi=10.1136/bmjgh-2023-011923 |issn=2059-7908 |pmc=10445399 |pmid=37604596}}</ref> MSF highlighted the scarcity of anti-venom in Africa due to stoppage of manufacturing and brought urgency to the scenario and led media advocacy efforts.<ref name=":0" />

=== Access to Medicine Campaign ===
On June 20, 2024, MSF announced closing down its access-to-medicines campaign focused on enabling access to medicines in resource limited settings.<ref name="Silverman-2024">{{cite news |last1=Silverman |first1=Ed |title=Doctors Without Borders is closing its widely regarded access-to-medicines campaign |url=https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2024/06/20/msf-doctors-borders-access-medicines-jnj-tb-pandemic-vaccines-covid/#:~:text=By%20Ed%20Silverman%20June%2020,for%20its%20own%20relief%20efforts. |publisher=STAT News |date=20 June 2024}}</ref> MSF plans to replace the campaign with a new effort that will focus on products, like medicines and vaccines, that MSF needs for its own relief efforts.<ref name="Silverman-2024"/> Several advocates have criticized this move including the [[Treatment Action Group]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harrington |first1=Mark |title=An Open Letter to Médecins Sans Frontières — Urgent Call to Reverse the Devastating Decision to Shutter the MSF Access Campaign |url=https://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/letter/an-open-letter-to-medecins-sans-frontieres/ |publisher=Treatment Action Group |date=20 June 2024}}</ref>