Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 25, 2006

MSF Volunteers in Niger working on a malnutrition project
MSF Volunteers in Niger working on a malnutrition project

Médecins Sans Frontières is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organisation most recognised for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic disease. Headquartered in Brussels, MSF is governed by an International Board of Directors and organised into 20 national sections. Private donors provide about 80% of the organisation's funding, while governmental and corporate donations provide the rest, giving MSF an annual budget of approximately USD 400 million. The organisation actively provides health care and medical training to populations in more than 70 countries, and frequently insists on political responsibility in conflict zones such as Chechnya and Kosovo. Only once in its history, during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, has the organisation called for a military intervention. In recognition of its members' continuous effort to provide medical care in acute crises, as well as raising international awareness of potential humanitarian disasters, MSF received the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. (more...)

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