Doctors Without Borders

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) – Doctors without Borders – is an international humanitarian aid organization that was founded in 1971 by a small group of French doctors and journalists, headed by Bernard Kouchner who had worked in Biafra during the 1967–1970 Nigerian Civil War. The founders were frustrated with the neutrality that characterized the attitude of the Red Cross during the Nigerian-Biafra conflict and felt the need to create an organization that would provide aid and emphasize and defend the victims’ rights.

MSF’s values are aligned with the principles of the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, and its mission is to get involved and alleviate the suffering of people. A particular focus of intervention is when there are medical needs that result from violence, torture, warfare, persecution, oppression, natural disasters, epidemics, abandonment, exile, or exodus. MSF defends peoples’ right to medical care regardless of race, religion, creed, or political...