Resources - Decolonise MSF

This is an archive of educational resources for our movement.

Decolonising Public Health: A Moment to Reflect on a Movement, Madhukar Pai, Forbes, July 2021

Our manifesto

Open Letter (2020)

Testimonies and Reflections from Colleagues (2020)

The Humanitarian Global Colour Line, Michael Barnett, ALNAP, July 2020

Research as agitation: Generative activism in the age of resistance, Arnab Majumdar & Monica Mukerjee, PLOS Global Public Health, January 2022

“Aid agency actions on racial justice ‘inadequate’, aid workers say”, The New Humanitarian, October 2021

“Doctors Without Borders saves lives every day. Some insiders say it is also a racist workplace where nonwhite workers get worse pay, less security, and inferior medical care.” Business Insider, September 2021

Who gets to decolonize humanitarianism?, Tammam Aloudat, Centre for Humanitarian Action, June 2021

Humanitarian organizations won’t listen to groups on the ground, in part because of institutionalized racism, Michael Barnett, WP, June 2021

Peace Direct Report, Time to Decolonise Aid, May 2021

How to get your organization's anti-racism work unstuck, Jennifer Lentfer, Al Jazeera, May 2021

The Disease of Settler Colonialism and Apartheid, Jehan Bseiso and Jonathan Whittall, Al Jazeera, May 2021

Médecins Sans Frontières: 50 years of bearing witness, Udani Samarasekera, The Lancet, January 2022

The everyday emotional lives of aid workers: how humanitarian anxiety gets in the way of meaningful local participation, Amoz J. Y Hor, Cambridge University Press, October 2021

NoWhiteSaviors: Is “White Aid” Colonialist?, Sibilla Bondolfi, Swiss Info, October 2021

Readers React: Racism in the Aid Sector and the Way Forward, The New Humanitarian, September 2020

Institutional Racism in MSF: The 1001st Signature, Dalia Majongwe, LinkedIn, July 2020

Bearing Witness Inside MSF - Arnab Majumdar, The New Humanitarian, August 2020

Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Humanitarian Workers: From Moral Relativism to Competitive Victimhood, Humanitarian Alternatives, March 2021

Decolonising INGOs: MSF has a fundamental flaw its white saviours can’t solve, Yazan al-Saadi, The New Arab, July 2020

Time to Decolonise Aid, A Sector-Wide Consultation, Peace Direct, April 2021

Dignity is the Bedrock for Workplace Belonging, Stanford Social Innovation Review, April 2021

What Unconscious Bias Training Gets Wrong…and How to Fix It, The Guardian, April 2021

Racism in Aid Survey, AidWorks and Thomson-Reuters, 2021

Racial Diversity in Global Health, Matahari Global Solutions and ARASA, May 2021

White Supremacy and the Problem with Centring Donors’ Interests and Emotions, Nonprofit AF, March 2021

Lessons from La Mancha, A Call for Some History, Marc Dubois, March 2021

The Damage Aid Workers Can Do - With Just their Words, Tammam Aloudat, March 2021

“Who Can Sing the Song of MSF?” Myfanwy James, Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, December 2020

Decolonising Aid, Again, Paul Currion, The New Humanitarian, July 2020

What is White Privilege, Really?, Learning for Justice, 2018

‘Stranger Danger’ and the Gendered/Racialised Construction of Threats in Humanitarianism, Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, September 2020

Decolonising global health in 2021: a roadmap to move from rhetoric to reform, BMJ Global Health, 2021

“My Sweet La Mancha”, Invited and Voluntary Contributions, 2005

‘Moral evil, economic good’: Whitewashing the sins of colonialism, Al Jazeera, February 2021

Half of aid workers report racism at work in past year - poll, Thomson-Reuters, October 2020

Humanitarian Action Beyond the French Doctors, Eleanor Davey, Humanitarian Alternatives, 2020

From Words to Action: How to Begin to Dismantle Racism in Global Health and Development, Angela Bruce-Raeburn Q&A, Vital Strategies, 2021

Decolonization is a Comfortable Buzzword for the Aid Sector, Themrise Khan, Open Democracy, January 2021

“Nationals” and “Expatriates”: Challenges of Fulfilling “Sans Frontieres” Ideals in International Humanitarian Action, 2008

Statement from EAA Against Racism, Souk, July 2020

Racism at the Heart of MSF? Foura Sassou Madi, Souk, September 2020

Open Letter on Racism, MSF Brazil, Souk, June 2020

“Field” Perspectives on Concrete Solutions, Souk, 2020

MSF’s Culture of Debate Has Failed Us. Where do we go from Here? Rhona Rahmani, Souk, September 2020

Some Historical Context

Jonathan Whittall’s Open Letter Following the 2017 IGA

National Staff Policy: Beyond Lip Service? Albertien Van der Veen, 2005

Vision Paper on Field Staffing, Marc Dubois, 2008

Assessment of Progress of Executive Implementation Regarding National Staff, Report to the IC and Executive Direcotrs, Frances Stevenson, 2008

Rome/Dakar Executive Summary

People Respect Values / Rome-Dakar June 2019

IRP2 Evaluation Report Summary, 2017

A Call For Change, MSF IB, March 2018

25 Years of Medical Humanitarian Action, Leslie Shanks, 2010

The Unbearable Lightness of Expats, Peter Redfield, Cultural Anthropology, 2008