MSF Press Briefing on Crisis in Central African Republic

Sylvain Groulx, MSF head of mission for Central African Republic
Dounia Dekhili, MSF deputy manager of emergency programs

Thursday, July 24, 2014, at 12:45 p.m. EDT
Press Briefing Room (S-0237), UN Secretariat, New York

Despite the presence of international forces, the conflict in Central African Republic (CAR) continues, with belligerents targeting the civilian population. Newly collected data from a retrospective mortality study carried out by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) shows catastrophic levels of deaths attributable to violence, including at border areas where trapped civilians tried to flee the country.

Sylvain Groulx served as MSF head of mission from May 2012 to June 2014, witnessing every stage of the current crisis and conflict. In addition to discussing the details of MSF's mortality study, he will describe the humanitarian conditions among people trapped in enclaves in CAR and among refugees along the borders with Cameroon and Chad.

Mr. Groulx previously worked with MSF in CAR in 2003, 2006 and 2007, witnessing a decade of devastation. He will be available for interviews in English and French.

He will be joined by Dounia Dekhili, MSF deputy manager of emergency programs.

MSF is one of the largest providers of medical and humanitarian aid in CAR, with more than 300 expatriate staff and 2,000 local workers responding to the crisis. Since December 2013, MSF has increased the number of programs it runs in CAR from 10 to 21 and has set up six programs in neighboring countries to aid Central African refugees. MSF has worked in CAR since 1997.