News in brief

MSF releases the podcast “MSF Speaking Out: The Hunting and Killing of Rwandan refugees in Zaire-Congo 1996-1997” describing the dilemmas, challenges and controversies faced by the MSF teams including: could MSF communicate publicly on the health condition of the refugees when its access to them had recently been denied? When it realised its teams were being used to lure and kill refugees, should the organisation cease its activities and condemn this manipulation?

Today we learnt of the passing of Bert Ingelaere. Our thoughts go out to his friends, colleagues, and family.

 MSF releases in English, French and in Arabic the “MSF Speaking Out: Srebrenica” podcast based on the original MSF Speaking Out Case Study (SOCS) “MSF in Srebrenica, 1993 – 2003”.

The comic book "Le Grand Voyage d'Alice" was drawn by Gaspard Talmasse and published by La boîte à bulles on November 17th. The preface of this comic book was written by Dr. Jean-Hervé Bradol, former president of MSF and director of studies at the Reflection center of MSF (MSF-Crash). The book won the MSF prize at the Carnet de voyages Festival in Clermont-Ferrand, held from November 19th to the 21st. 
 

At the time of digital humanities and as part of a project to make available to the public all books written by members of the CRASH since the 1990s, the following books are now downloadable in EPUB format on our website.

An article entitled "Médecines du corps noir" [Medicine and the black body], published on the La vie des idées website on 27 April, discusses three American history books on the origins of medicine in the United States in the context of slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries. Between experimentation and resistance, the history of relationships between race and health illustrates the decisive role played by African slaves.    

A selection of books chosen by members of Crash. Happy summer and happy reading !

This article was originally published in French on Grotius, as part of a dossier on the contribution of research to humanitarian action. Unlike most think tanks and research institutes devoted to the study of humanitarian aid, the CRASH - born of Médecins Sans Frontières leaders' desire for a structure to support critical reflection on their own operations - is an integral part of a relief organization.

Deployment of chemical weapons in Syria has proven to be such a horrific event, it has mobilized the muscle and diplomacy of the most powerful international actors. What will it take to unleash this same determination to come to the aid of the youngest Syrians?

Médecins Sans Frontières is today launching an educational website "Speaking Out" that provides unprecedented insight into its decisions during key humanitarian crises of the past 40 years.