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