Books & Films

Directed by Peter Casaer and narrated by Daniel Day-Lewis, this documentary provides a harrowing look at the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid in armed conflicts.

Over the past 40 years, MSF has developed a reputation as an emergency medical humanitarian organization willing to go almost anywhere to deliver care to people in need. Yet when questioned about MSF, people in countries where it works had different perceptions.

A collection of essays and case studies that explore the practical realities of humanitarian crises through MSF's rich experience in complex situations.

For the first time ever, MSF gave a documentary crew uncensored access to its field operations. Set in war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and post-conflict Liberia, "Living in Emergency" interweaves the stories of four doctors as they struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions.

An exploration of how the particular style of humanitarian action practiced by MSF has stayed in line with the standards in scientifically advanced countries while also leading to significant improvements in the medical care delivered to people in crisis.

A collection of 14 first-hand accounts of life inside conflict zones where MSF provides emergency medical care. The book takes readers on a harrowing tour of countries in crisis, profiling people struggling to cope with war, disease, and lack of access to basic health care.

In 2005, a famine ravaged the country of Niger. From the outset, the media focused more on the supposed natural causes of the food shortage—the droughts and locust infestations that have always plagued the region—rather than the political issues that kept NGOs and the government from adequately addressing the crisis. In fact, a more comprehensive study would have revealed that drought and locusts overtook the Sahel region a year before the famine began and that the death of tens of thousands from malnutrition was not a "natural" phenomenon.

Six Months in Sudan began as a popular blog that Dr. Maskalyk wrote from his hut in Sudan in an attempt to bring his family and friends closer to his hot, hot days.

The Photographer combines art and photography to tell the powerful story of the clandestine operations that MSF ran to assist Afghan people after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Through the lens of photojournalist Didier Lefèvre and the artwork of acclaimed graphic novelist Emmanuel Guibert, we bear witness to the atrocities and dangers of war in Afghanistan during a time unknown to many today.

Formerly the president of Doctors Without Borders, Dr. James Orbinski returns to Africa to reflect upon the medical services he rendered in the face of overwhelming suffering and maddening indifference. While taking stock of the past in this documentary, Orbinski also confronts the challenges of the future, offering a direct, impassioned set of views on the nature of humanitarianism and the urgency required for compassionate action.

From the former president of MSF comes a searing personal memoir that is also an urgent call to confront suffering in all its many forms.

A collection of essays by François Jean, who contributed enormously in the field and at headquarters to the evolution and direction of MSF for nearly two decades. Throughout his time with MSF, he wrote prolifically about the difficulties and challenges face by humanitarian aid workers in a shifting political landscape.

Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier draws on her expertise in humanitarian law and her experience as legal director for MSF to explain in clear, precise language the rights of victims and humanitarian organizations in times of conflict, tension, and crisis.

Combining engaging text with dramatic color photographs from around the world, Hope in Hell examines the lives of individual MSF volunteer medical professionals.

International experts and members of MSF make the case for a renewed commitment to an old ideal: a humanitarianism that defies a politics of expendable lives.

"How can we improve the aid we provide to victims of armed conflict?" asks Jean-Hervé Bradol, MD, in the opening pages of Civilians Under Fire. Dr. Bradol, President of the international medical aid organization’s office in Paris, and several other medical experts from MSF try to answer this question by taking an introspective and self-critical look at the medical programs MSF ran in the Congo Republic during a severe phase of the civil war that devastated the country from 1998-2000.

This book is aimed at professionals involved in public health assistance to refugees and displaced persons. It deals with a variety of specific refugee health issues at the decisional level, and discusses the priorities of intervention during the different phases of a refugee crisis, from emergency to repatriation.