Publications

Following a series of coups d'état in recent years in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the Sahel region is undergoing a major redefinition. In a context of high insecurity, what are the possibilities for accessing populations? What are the conditions under which our teams are operating, and can we do more? This interview with Hamadoun Dicko, who is in charge of access issues in the Sahel for MSF, was originally published association's website of MSF-France.

Six months after the events of October 7, the situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The population is trapped and threatened with starvation, while the possibility of a ceasefire is not guaranteed. In this context, how can we describe what is happening in Gaza? Rony Brauman is categorical: it is appropriate to talk about genocide. In this interview conducted by Elba Rahmouni, he offers a historical and political reading of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, looking at the reasons given by Israel to justify the siege of Gaza, the fate of prisoners and the usefulness of humanitarian law.

In this article, historian Eleanor Davey examines the concept of failure in the humanitarian sector through the experience of MSF and its reform process, known as La Mancha, which began in the early 2000s. The text highlights the challenges faced by MSF in recognising and resolving internal inequalities within the organisation.

Challenging the idea that humanitarian actors can act free from politics by virtue of their principles, this chapter argues that the politicization of humanitarian aid is in fact the primary condition for its deployment. Humanitarian actors can only act if they maintain a balance between their own interests and those of people in positions of power. This raises a crucial ethical question: At what point do humanitarian organisations consider that deals reached with political powers cross the blurred but very real line beyond which humanitarian assistance does more harm than good?