Understanding Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

“Saving the world, or at least alleviating some of the world's pain, is supposed to be rewarding. But care and healthcare activities are also known to be the most exposed to professional stress and burn-out. What then is happening in the humanitarian sector, and more specifically at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a sector at the convergence of these two perspectives? (Part 3 - People) Original PhD work available here: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03281513

“Saving the world, or at least alleviating some of the world's pain, is supposed to be rewarding. But care and healthcare activities are also known to be the most exposed to professional stress and burn-out. What then is happening in the humanitarian sector, and more specifically at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a sector at the convergence of these two perspectives? (Part 1 - Definitions) Original PhD work available here: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03281513

“Saving the world, or at least alleviating some of the world's pain, is supposed to be rewarding. But care and healthcare activities are also known to be the most exposed to professional stress and burn-out. What then is happening in the humanitarian sector, and more specifically at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a sector at the convergence of these two perspectives? Original PhD work available here: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03281513

In the humanitarian sector, dedicated to alleviating people’s suffering, how to qualify a misconduct and impose a potentially painful sanction? How can one judge, i.e. consider that everyone is responsible for their act, in a working area based on the fact that human inequalities are partly due to social determinisms? To what extent tolerating deviance is exacerbated and sentences are attenuated if not lifted? Article: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-sociologies-pratiques-2023-1-page-55?

Over the past thirty years, many players in the international aid sector tried to involve the populations they work with in a movement of “southernization”. At MSF, this resulted in a diversification of the origin of “expatriates”, which itself led to a partial depoliticization of the organization, shifted its strategic balance and gave rise to a new social stratification. Article: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-internationale-des-etudes-du-developpement-2020-1-page-165

By defining precariousness as a period of undergone uncertainty, this article aims to grasp how the tension between militant ideal and managerial imperative of the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), present since its foundation, has been translated into the form of a managerial policy sometimes perceived as an opportunity, sometimes as a constraint by humanitarian workers.

In this podcast, we discuss the notion of disinterestedness within Doctors Without Borders (MSF). This podcast reveals three gradations of interest: first, interestedness, the gradation where individual material and symbolic rewards are recognised by the individuals, then, disinterestedness, second gradation where the rewards are a priori collective but also, in an indirect way and in different forms, individual, and finally indifference, third gradation where individuals have no judgement.

Over the past thirty years, the humanitarian sector has become increasingly professional, and society has recognised the importance of psychological well-being. This podcast describes how Médecins Sans Frontières has adapted its approach to managing the stress faced by humanitarian workers. Original article: https://www.alternatives-humanitaires.org/en/2023/07/17/from-traumatic-stress-to-stress-at-work-providing-psychological-care-for-medecins-sans-frontieres-staff/