War and humanitarianism, medicine and public health, rights and justice... Discover CRASH publications sorted by themes.
The fact that CRASH publications are written from an aid practitioner's, rather than researcher's, perspective, does not exempt them from the demands of rigorous research methods. We try hard at this, with the help of (volunteer) research professionals. The publications are not the MSF party line, but rather tools for reflexion based on MSF's framework and experience. They have only one purpose: to help us better understand what we are doing. Criticisms, comments and suggestions are more than welcome - they are expected.
Syria: Breaking the De Facto Humanitarian Embargo against Rebel-Held Areas
While European Union members are debating the lifting of arms embargo on Syria, populations living in opposition held territories continue to be severed from desperately needed humanitarian aid. Yet, there is a controversy among aid agencies on the best ways to scale up relief activities in Syria.
Vaccination against poliomyelitis: violence and resistance
On January 8th, nine Nigerians, all working on the poliomyelitis vaccination campaign, were murdered in Kano, in the north of the country. A few weeks before, several Pakistani (nine in December, seven in January), again members of poliomyelitis vaccination teams, were also killed.
Doctor WHO?
In this chronicle "Alternatives Internationales", Rony Brauman discusses the return of using community health workers as primary access points for healthcare, in the recommendations of the WHO and practices of some governments.
Refusing to accept the death toll from drug-resistant TB
Epidemiological studies estimate that nearly nine million people were suffering from active tuberculosis (TB) in 2010, causing upwards of one and a half million deaths. More than 90% of these deaths took place in low- or middle-income countries, thus reinforcing an old idea that TB and poverty are strongly linked.
Against the memorial laws
Considering that the United Nations juridictions officially recognises six genocides, Rony Brauman considers unjustifiable the fact that the French Parliament only recognises . The only alternative is to recognise all of them or none.
Natural Disasters: “Do Something!”
In this interview conducted by Claudine Vidal in 2012 and published in the book Agir à Tout Prix (Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: the MSF experience), Rony Brauman speaks about emergency humanitarian aid set up following natural disasters. Time constraints, access to victims, cooperation with local institutions, misleading representations of the disasters' effects, controversial assessments of the number of casualties ; various topics related to these interventions are discussed and illustrated with specific examples.
Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: the MSF experience
From international NGOs to UN agencies, from donors to observers of humanitarianism, opinion is unanimous: in a context of the alleged ‘clash of civilisations’, our ‘humanitarian space’ is shrinking.
Follow-up to "Wartime rape: men, too"
The Observer published in July 2012 an article on male rape in wartime. The study described cases of rape in Congo and the aid and medical care they received in Uganda. In reaction to this article, 209 comments were posted. The goal of Marc Le Pape's article is to show how these discussions and exchange of views address gender norms and rules.
AIDS: A new pandemic leading to new medical and political practices
It seemed appropriate to assemble these texts now, at a time when the history of our AIDS missions is compelling us to formulate new goals.