An
international, independent medical humanitarian organisation
Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) translates to Doctors without Borders. 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 - bound together by our
charter. Our actions are guided by
medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality.
We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organisation.
MSF was
founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of journalists and doctors. Today, we are a
worldwide movement of nearly 68,000 people.
All of
its members agree to honour the following principles:
Médecins
Sans Frontières provides assistance to populations in distress, to victims of
natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict. They do so
irrespective of race, religion, creed or political convictions.
Médecins
Sans Frontières observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal
medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and claims full and
unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions.
Members
undertake to respect their professional code of ethics and maintain complete
independence from all political, economic or religious powers.
As
volunteers, members understand the risks and dangers of the missions they carry
out and make no claim for themselves or their assigns for any form of
compensation other than that which the association might be able to afford
them.