Doctors Without Borders

Hello! We are Doctors Without Borders. That is our English name, but we also have a French name, Médecins Sans Frontières, which you can call us by our initials, MSF. Our name tells you exactly what we do: we are doctors, nurses, and many other kinds of helpers who travel across borders to help people. A border is a line that separates one country from another, but we believe that sickness and injuries don't stop at those lines. Our main promise, and the reason we exist, is to give medical care to people who need it the most. It doesn’t matter to us who they are, where they live, or what they believe. If someone is hurt or sick, we believe they deserve help.

Our story began in 1971. A group of French doctors and journalists decided that people needed help in places that were hard to reach. So they started our group in the city of Paris, France. From that day forward, we have gone to places where people are facing very difficult times. Sometimes we work in countries where there is war, and many people are getting hurt. Other times, we rush to help after a natural disaster, like a big earthquake that knocks down buildings. We also go to places where a serious sickness is spreading quickly. Because hospitals might be destroyed or too full, we set up our own temporary hospitals and clinics, often in large tents, so we can start treating people right away.

To do our work, we follow a few very important rules that guide everything we do. First, we are neutral. This means we never take sides in a fight or a war. We are not on one team or the other; we are on the side of the people who need medical care. Our only job is to heal. Second, we are impartial. This is a big word that means something simple: we help the people who are the sickest or most injured first. It doesn't matter how important someone is—the person who needs care the most is the one we help first. Finally, we are independent. This is possible because we get our funding from donations given by people all over the world. This means we can decide for ourselves where help is needed most.

Today, our work continues in dozens of countries all around the globe. Our teams of doctors, nurses, and other volunteers are always ready to go where they are needed. Because of our work helping people for so many years, we received a very special award in 1999 called the Nobel Peace Prize. This award was given to us for all of our humanitarian work—which is a way of saying “work that helps people.” But the best prize for us is seeing someone get better. Our mission today is the same as it was when we started: to save lives and reduce suffering wherever we can. We will keep going wherever people need us.