Extensive Training
Specialized training of field volunteers is also an essential part of our work. New volunteers are trained in skills that they will need in the field by a team of emergency experts. MSF offers training programmes to an estimated 1,000 participants every year.
MSF Ethiopian doctor gets ready to take healthcare to remote regions, Ethiopia, 2001
Photo by Daniel Herard/CIRIC
To assist in this, MSF has
developed handbooks for use in the field covering everything from essential drugs to water and sanitation. These guidelines,
which can be downloaded here, have been translated into several languages and are also used by many other relief organizations.
Project Management
Field operations are managed by a country manager and a coordination team (often including a medical coordinator, a logistical coordinator, and a financial coordinator) typically in the capital city of each country where MSF works. These individuals oversee the execution of the project and act as liaison between MSF, local authorities, partners, and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They report regularly to the Operations Departments at their headquarters. In countries where there are several projects, each project team is led by a field coordinator.
Each of MSF's field missions is initiated and coordinated by one of the organization's five operational centres located in offices in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva and Barcelona.
The Project Team
An MSF doctor conducts a consultation in Man, Ivory Coast, 2007
Photo by Thierry Dricot
An average field project team has between four and twelve international volunteers working in collaboration with up to 200 local staff members. International staff generally supervise the work of local staff and provide training on medical techniques. Local staff assist international volunteers by helping them to understand the needs of the patients and the overall social and cultural context.
Evaluation
All projects are continually evaluated so that they may be adapted to best suit the needs of the affected population. This information flows constantly between the projects and the relevant MSF office (known as the ‘operational centre’), giving MSF the flexibility to develop the project and optimise the available resources to best suit the needs of the people most in need.