Timeline of Médecins Sans Frontières

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This is a timeline of Médecins Sans Frontières, an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in nearly 70 countries.[1]

Big picture

Time period Development summary
1970s "Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was born in the early 1970s out of the exasperation of a group of French doctors who worked in desperate conditions in the Biafra War (1967-70)" "MSF's growth and increased professionalism in the 1970s came as a response to decolonisation and cold war conflicts in Africa and Asia, which created massive refugee crises."[2]
2010s As og 2015, MSF is active in nineteen countries and is involved in assistance activities in over sixty nations. It is represented by the International Office in Geneva, and has operational centers in Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Geneva that coordinate interventions. MSF is independent from governments and political parties.[3]

Full timeline

Year Event type Details Country
1971 (December 22) Médecins Sans Frontières is founded in Paris[1] by a group of French doctors and journalists in the wake of Nigerian Civil War, and the floods in Bangladesh.[4] France
1972 An earthquake in Nicaragua marks the first MSF mission in a natural disaster.[4] Nicaragua
1974 MSF conducts a relief mission to assist people in Honduras after the devastating Hurricane Fifi–Orlene.[4] Honduras
1975 MSF establishes its first large-scale medical program during a refugee crisis in Cambodia, providing medical care for the waves of Cambodians seeking sanctuary from the Khmer Rouge regime.[5] Cambodia
1976 MSF conducts its first wartime mission in Lebanon and becomes a professional medical emergency organization.[6] Lebanon
1977 MSF organize their first major advertising campaign, featuring a picture of a child, looking into a camera from behind bars.[7]
1977 In spite of having promoted a depoliticized image, MSF representative Claude Malhuret first violates the statutory confidentiality commitment by condemning the “revolutionary crimes” of the Khmer Rouge who, he says, are “exterminating entire segments of the population in the name of some revamped communist ideology”.[8] Cambodia
1978 MSF launches various refugee programs in Thailand, in Djibouti during the Ogaden War and Eritrean refugees in Sudan.[9] Thailand, Djibouti, Sudan
1979 Staff MSF Co-founder Dr Bernard Kouchner leaves to form a new group, Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World).[9]
1979 MSF moves beyond its modus operandi of sending isolated doctors to crisis zones in favour of creating a more structured organization that can provide quality medical services in crises. The initiative is led by Dr Claude Malhuret and Dr Francis Charhon.[9]
1979 MSF starts working in Somalia, in times of the Somali Rebellion.[10] Somalia
1979 MSF set up missions to help civilians in South Sudan affected by starvation and the civil war.[11] Sudan
1980 MSF launches its first nutritional program in the midst of drought and civil war in Karamoja, Uganda.[9] Uganda
1980 MSF medical teams clandestinely cross the Pakistani–Afghan border and travel by mule for several weeks to reach injured civilians living in remote areas during the Soviet–Afghan War.[9] Afghanistan
1980 Branch MSF-Belgium is founded.[12] Belgium
1981 MSF hospitals in Afghanistan are bombarded.[9] Afghanistan
1981 MSF sets up its first logistics department to coordinate and channel emergency medical relief.[2]
1981 Branch MSF-Switzerland is established.[13] Switzerland
1982 MSF begins working in Rwanda.[14] Rwanda
1983 MSF France registers the brands "MSF International" and "MSF Europe" in Geneva and modifies its own statutes in order to integrate the possible creation of an MSF international structure.[15] France
1984 MSF starts programs to treat malnutrition in Ethiopia.[16] Ethiopia
1984 MSF establishes office in the Netherlands.[17] Netherlands
1984 MSF creates the Liberté Sans Frontières (LSF) Foundation, a think-tank on development and human rights issues.[8]
1984 MSF Belgium establishes AEDES (Association Européenne pour le Développement et la Santé/European Association for Development and Health) in order to support long-term projects that MSF want to hand over, and to offer more stable jobs for certain MSF employees.[18] Belgium
1985 MSF Belgium opposes the creation by MSF France’s newly formed Liberté Sans Frontières, thus taking a first step towards independence from MSF France.[15] Belgium
1985 The Government from Ethiopia expells MSF doctors on accusations for speaking out against Government policies.[19] Ethiopia
1985 MSF adds food relief to its eight-year-long mission in Eritrea, which has previously focused on emergency medicine.[20] Eritrea
1985 MSF assists with medical care in Honduras to refugees from El Salvador and Nicaragua.[9] Honduras
1986 MSF organizes mobile clinics and starts assisting injured and traumatized people affected by the Sri Lankan Civil War.[21] Sri Lanka
1986 Branch MSF-Spain is established. Spain
1986 Yemen intervention in Aden where fighting rages between rival factions of the ruling party."[9] Yemen
1986 MSF France creates MSF Logistique to manage the stocks of equipment and medicines to be sent to missions.[15] France
1986 Branch Three doctors create MSF Luxembourg. The first actions by this association are done jointly with MSF Belgium in Ethiopia, Lebanon, Nicaragua, and then with MSF Spain in Bolivia. Refusing to recognize MSF Luxembourg as operational and independent, because of concerns over its small size and about its close ties to MSF Belgium, MSF France threatens to prosecute MSF Luxembourg to prevent the use of the MSF trademark.[15] Luxemburg, France
1986 MSF France registers as an overseas organization in the United Kingdom.[15] United Kingdom
1986 MSF Belgium created its own green logo.[15] Belgium
1986 MSF France’s General Assembly votes to create a structure in charge of training MSF volunteers. This association, called CIREM (Centre d’Intervention pour la Recherche et l’Epidémiologie Médicale/Intervention Centre for Research and Medical Epidemiology), has three objectives: public health training, provision of scientific support to MSF missions, and scientific networking.[15] France
1987 MSF vaccinates 2,5 million Nigerians in the region around Ibadan and in Anambra State.[22] Nigeria
1988 MSF is requested to start an intervention to address urgent health needs in the area of the Western Upper Nile.[23] Sudan
1988 MSF Belgium and MSF Holland strive to develop a concrete operational collaboration, and create a common Rapid Response Unit [Unité d’Intervention Rapide/UIR] which is to be coordinated alternately by each section.[15] Belgium, Netherlands
1988 MSF assists victims of the earthquake of Armenia.[24] Armenia
1989 MSF withdraws from Sudan after an MSF plane is shot down by a missile, killing 4 people, two of them MSF volunteers.[9] Sudan
1989 "MSF provide medical care in the Soviet Union."[9]
1989 MSF Belgium creates Transfer, a logistics center cooperative association, which remains under MSF control via the members of the General Assembly and board, who are all MSF Belgium members.[15] Belgium
1990 "An MSF logistician is murdered in Afghanistan. Activities suspended."[9]
1990 MSF begins working in Liberia in response to the civil war.[25] Liberia
1990 Branch MSF-Greece is established.[26] Greece
1990 Branch MSF establish office in the United States.[27] United States
1990 MSF begins its first psychosocial program in Gaza, which focuses on developing people’s self-help skills and on addressing both the social and psychological effects of violence.[28] Palestine
1991 "The MSF relief convoy evacuating the wounded from Vukovar hospital comes under attack. Three of our workers are wounded."[9]
1991 MSF initiates an HIV/AIDS prevention program in Uganda.[29] Uganda
1991 Branch MSF establish office in Canada.[30] Canada
1991 MSF starts operations in Brazil. All projects would be closed in 2011.[31] Brazil
1991 "EMERGENCY IN SOMALIA MSF represents the only foreign presence in war-stricken Mogadishu, and aids refugees in other countries."[9] Somalia
1991 "EMERGENCY IN KURDISTAN Largest emergency relief operation to date. MSF provide care in Turkey, Iran and Jordan to Kurds displaced by the Gulf War"[9] Kurdistan
1992 Branch MSF establish office in Japan.[32] Japan
1992 Branch MSF Sweden is established.[15] Sweden
1992 MSF states that, “the main problem today is that of access to victims; the authorities or factions oppose humanitarian action, an inconvenient witness to their atrocities, and insecurity makes intervention increasingly dangerous”.[8]
1992 The MSF International Office organizes the ‘Populations in Danger’ Days and the production of the ‘MSF Report on the Populations in Danger.’[15]
1992 "In 1992, the lawyer Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier was tasked by the International Office to address the trademark issue, starting with a review of all the registered MSF trademarks. Eventually, the six first sections (MSF France, MSF Belgium, MSF Switzerland, MSF Holland, MSF Luxembourg, MSF Spain) were allowed to keep their trademark in their home countries, providing they would release their trademarks in other countries to the international office."[15]
1993 MSF starts operations in Burundi during the civil war in the country.[33] Burundi
1993 Branch MSF establishes office in the United Kingdom.[34] United Kingdom
1993 Branch MSF-Italy is established.[15] Italy
1993 MSF Denmark is established.[15] Denmark
1994 MSF issues a new tuberculosis guideline that refers explicitly to WHO's declaration on the eradication of TB as a public health priority.[35]
1994 Branch MSF-Australia is established.[36] Australia
1994 Branch MSF Germany, MSF Hong Kong, MSF Australia, and MSF Austria are established.[37][15] Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, Austria
1995 MSF doctors assist civilians during the First Chechen War.[38] Russia
1995 Branch MSF France’s Antenna is set up in the United Arab Emirates.[15] United Arab Emirates
1995 MSF becomes the first European NGO to begin working in North Korea.[39] North Korea
1996 Recognition MSF receive the Seoul Peace Prize.[11] South Korea
1996 Branch MSF Norway is established.[15] Norway
1996 MSF launches a massive vaccination and treatment program during a severe epidemic of meningococcal meningitis in Nigeria. About 4.5 million people are assisted.[40] Nigeria
1996 (November) MSF calls for armed international intervention in Rwanda, “to protect the refugees and guarantee access to aid”.[8] Rwanda
1997 MSF assists Rwandan refugees forced out of camps in Zaire as they return home, but are blocked from assisting those fleeing further into Zaire, who fall victim to widespread massacres.[9] Rwanda
1997 Literature MSF publishes the book Refugee Health, which establishes ten top priorities for managing refugee emergencies.[41]
1998 MSF formally recognizes the importance of providing mental healthcare and psychosocial care as part of its emergency work.[42][43]
1998 MSF decides to support the creation of the International Criminal Court. However, 10 years later it would state that it ‘would not cooperate and would not transmit any information to the ICC', as the organization needs to keep its distance from the ICC, as from any other political body.[44]
1998 (October–November) MSF assists victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America.[45] Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador
1999 Recognition MSF is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "in recognition of the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents".[46] Sweden
1999 MSF doctors provide humanitarian assistance to refugees in Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro during the Kosovo War.[47] Kosovo
2000 MSF doctors assist victims during the Sierra Leone Civil War.[48] Sierra Leone
2000 MSF teams in Thailand break rules to import affordable HIV medicines to treat patients from HIV/AIDS.[49] Thailand
2001 MSF start providing antiretroviral therapy to people living with AIDS in several countries.[9] Thailand, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa
2002 MSF France extends its program to assist North Korean refugees who fly from China to other Asian countries in their attempt to reach South Korea, where an office is established in Seoul.[50] North Korea, China, South Korea
2002 "MALARIA KILLING MILLIONS IN AFRICA Faced with skyrocketing resistance to common antimalarials like chloroquine MSF increase its use of artemisin-based combination therapy, and push for wider availability of this effective treatment."[9]
2003 MSF joins several research institutes, including the Institut Pasteur, to create the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, a non-profit organization engaged in research and development of new treatments for neglected diseases.[51]
2006 Branch The MSF-Czech Republic office is established in Prague.[52] Czechia
2007 MSF teams assist patients during an Ebola outbreak in Uganda.[53][54] Uganda
2007 MSF assists civilians affected by the Somali Civil War. War surgery programs start in several locations.[10] Somalia
2007 "A NEW TREATMENT FOR MALARIA The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and the pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis launch ASAQ, an inexpensive and easy-to-use combination pill. ASAQ is not patented, allowing for others to produce it at lower cost."[9]
2008 "MSF staff already working in the country provide assistance to thousands of people displaced by the cyclone while the government stalls on allowing additional staff to enter the country."[9]
2008 MSF doctors assist patients during an outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe.[55] Zimbabwe
2009 MSF opens a surgical hospitals in Gaza and starts offering post-operative and psychological care. The two hospital tents include operating theaters and a 12-bed post-surgery recovery and post-operative care unit.[56] Palestine
2010 MSF responds to massive floods in Pakistan, assisting more than 80,000 patients and distributing nearly 2 million liters of clean water, along with almost 65,000 relief kits.[57] Pakistan
2010 "MSF and the VII photo agency launch the "Starved For Attention" multimedia campaign on global malnutrition. The ongoing exhibition, which has already been staged in the US, Europe, and Africa, highlights the often overlooked global scourge of malnutrition, its lethal impact on children in particular, and some innovative practices employed by MSF and others to combat it."[9]
2010 (January) MSF doctors assist victims of the Haitian earthquake.[58] Haiti
2010 MSF doctors carry out more than 80,000 medical consultations, treat more than 4,500 children for malnutrition and distribute 1.8 million litres of clean water every day to people affected by flooding during the 2010 Pakistan floods.[58] Pakistan
2010 MSF develops a multilingual telemedicine network to assist its field medical staff by providing direct access to specialist advice.[59]
2010 Withdrawal MSF suspends activities in Turkmenistan stating they can no longer provide effective assistance in a country where national health authorities hide the true state of public health and disseminate misinformation.[58] Turkmenistan
2011 "PROVIDING URGENT MEDICAL CARE IN LIBYA MSF finally manages to deliver medicines and medical supplies to Sirte, Libya, at the heart of the fighting. For ten days,we attempt to deliver aid to Sirte where, according to doctors in the town, the healthcare situation had continued to deteriorate."[9]
2013 Withdrawal MSF closes all its programs in Somalia after 22 years working in the country. The decision comes after a long series of threats, kidnappings, extremely violent attacks, and murders, with 16 members of MSF staff having been killed since 1991.[60] Somalia
2014 (February) MSF is ordered by the Government of Myanmar to cease all activities in the country, where MSF doctors assist 30,000 HIV/AIDS patients and more than 3,000 TB patients.[61] By December 2014 MSF would restart primary health clinics in the country.[62] Myanmar
2014 "RESPONSE BEGINS TO UNPRECEDENTED EBOLA EPIDEMIC In March, MSF begins responding in Guinea to what it describes as ‘an unprecedented Ebola epidemic’ due to the geographical spread of the virus.The World Health Organisation states that MSF is exaggerating."[9]
2018 (January) MSF opens a paediatric surgical program at a hospitaol in Monrovia, Liberia, with the goal to make surgical care more available for children in the country.[63] Liberia

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Médecins Sans Frontières History". nobelprize.org. Retrieved 4 July 2019. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "About MSF". theguardian.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  3. ↑ "Papernet supports Doctors without Borders (MSF)". papernet.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Founding". doctorswithoutborders.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  5. ↑ "FOUNDING OF MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES". msf.org.au. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  6. ↑ "Caring for the most vulnerable". msf.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  7. ↑ "Medecins sans Frontieres looks back at its first four decades". dw.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "II. History". msf-crash.org. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19 9.20 9.21 "The MSF timeline". msf.ie. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "A timeline of MSF in Somalia". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Médecins Sans Frontières". bionity.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  12. ↑ "Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - Belgium". globalhand.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  13. ↑ "MSF Switzerland" (PDF). msf.ch. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  14. ↑ "Rwandan genocide 25 years on: MSF caught in spiral of extreme violence from Rwanda to Zaire". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  15. ↑ 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 "Médecins Sans Frontières, Evolution of an International Movement: Associative History 1971-2014" (PDF). associativehistory.msf.org. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  16. ↑ "Famine in Ethiopia". doctorswithoutborders.tumblr.com. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  17. ↑ "Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - Holland". globalhand.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  18. ↑ "AEDES" (PDF). http://associativehistory.msf.org. Retrieved 18 July 2019.  External link in |website= (help)
  19. ↑ "EXPELLED DOCTORS ACCUSE ETHIOPIA". nytimes.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  20. ↑ Davey, Eleanor. "7 - Controversy in a humanitarian age". doi:10.1017/CBO9781107706880.008. 
  21. ↑ "Civil War in Sri Lanka". doctorswithoutborders.tumblr.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  22. ↑ "MSF starts malaria programme in the Niger Delta". msf.org. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  23. ↑ "Leishmaniasis Sudan" (PDF). watermark.silverchair.com. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  24. ↑ "Heroes without borders". ccbeuproject2015j.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  25. ↑ "Liberia". msf-me.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  26. ↑ Fox, Renée C. Doctors Without Borders: Humanitarian Quests, Impossible Dreams of Médecins Sans Frontières. 
  27. ↑ "Doctors Without Borders". doctorswithoutborders.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  28. ↑ "Psychosocial support within a global movement". thepsychologist.bps.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  29. ↑ Schopper, D; Doussantousse, S; Idro, WJ; Homsy, J. "Country watch. Uganda.". PMID 12318838. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  30. ↑ "DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS". charityintelligence.ca. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  31. ↑ "Brazil". msf.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  32. ↑ "Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Japon founded". msf.or.jp. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  33. ↑ "MSF treats 60 people wounded in grenade explosions". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  34. ↑ "Médecins Sans Frontières". msf.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  35. ↑ "Questioning health and human rights". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  36. ↑ "MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES AUSTRALIA". msf.org.au. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  37. ↑ "MSF-Hong Kong". msf-seasia.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  38. ↑ "War crimes and politics of terror in Chechnya (1994-2004)". msf-crash.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  39. ↑ Flake, L. Gordon; Snyder, Scott. Paved with Good Intentions: The NGO Experience in North Korea. 
  40. ↑ Mohammed, I; Nasidi, A; Alkali, AS; Garbati, MA; Ajayi-Obe, EK; Audu, KA; Usman, A; Abdullahi, S. "A severe epidemic of meningococcal meningitis in Nigeria, 1996.". Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  41. ↑ Oxford Handbook of Humanitarian Medicine (Amy Kravitz ed.). 
  42. ↑ "Beyond a healthy body: MSF's mental health support". msf-me.org. Retrieved 19 July 2019. 
  43. ↑ "The psychological impact of a humanitarian emergency can be severe.". msf.org.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2019. 
  44. ↑ "Grounds for divorce ? MSF and the international criminal court". msf-crash.org. Retrieved 19 July 2019. 
  45. ↑ "Hurricane Mitch: Two years after MSF post Mitch intervention". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  46. ↑ "The Nobel Peace Prize speech". msf.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  47. ↑ "MSF in Albania and Macedonia". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  48. ↑ "Assessing Trauma in Sierra Leone". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  49. ↑ "1999-2019: 20 Years of Advocacy in Action". 20years.msfaccess.org. Retrieved 17 July 2019. 
  50. ↑ Binet, Laurence. MSF and North Korea 1995-1998. 
  51. ↑ "Access to medicines". msf.org. Retrieved 17 July 2019. 
  52. ↑ "(MSF) Czech Republic". lekari-bez-hranic.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  53. ↑ "Ebola healthcare workers: a hazardous and isolating job". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  54. ↑ "Outbreak of Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever in Uganda". hpsc.ie. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  55. ↑ "A collective response to cholera in Harare". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  56. ↑ "MSF expands surgical activity in Gaza City". msf.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  57. ↑ "Pakistan: Six months after the floods". msf.org. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 "MSF Activity Report 2010" (PDF). msf.org. Retrieved 18 July 2019. 
  59. ↑ Delaigue, Sophie; Bonnardot, Laurent; Steichen, Olivier; Martinez Garcia, Daniel; Venugopal, Raghu; Saint-Sauveur, Jean-François; Wootton, Richard. "Seven years of telemedicine in Médecins Sans Frontières demonstrate that offering direct specialist expertise in the frontline brings clinical and educational value". PMID 30574293 Check |pmid= value (help). doi:10.7189/jogh.08.020414. 
  60. ↑ "MSF closes operations in Somalia over 'extreme attacks'". bbc.com. Retrieved 15 July 2019. 
  61. ↑ "MSF concerned about the fate of thousands of patients after being ordered to cease activities". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  62. ↑ "MSF restarts basic medical activities in parts of Myanmar's Rakhine State after nine-month absence". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
  63. ↑ "MSF opens paediatric surgery programme". msf.org. Retrieved 16 July 2019. 
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