Decision-making bodies
Joint Bodies
The most important of these is the General Assembly (GA) that convenes all the organisation’s full members once a year at its annual meeting. The General Assembly is a forum for discussion by the whole MdM (Doctors of the World – Médecins du Monde) community on social missions, major political issues and the passing of motions. The GA also approves the annual and the financial reports and elects the members of the Board.
Executive Committee: This is a weekly meeting between members of the Bureau (Board sub-committee), operational directors and the programme steering team (volunteers and employees from HQ and the field). The Executive Committee is at the heart of the implementing process of the Board’s decisions and is in charge of validating projects after seeking the opinion of the geopolitical and thematic groups or regional colleges.
The board
The organisation has a 12-member Board. The Board defines the organisation’s strategic orientations and submits them to the GA for approval. It ensures the transparency of the organisation’s workings with regard to all its stakeholders, and notably its users and the public authorities; it ensures the implementation of MdM’s priorities as defined by the General Assembly; it exercises its authority over all the organisation’s activities and delegates responsibility to the Executive Director for the implementation of decisions and the organisation’s management.
Regional offices
The regional offices, present in 14 regions of France, carry out regional missions within a framework defined by the Board.
The regional colleges and their delegates are accountable to the Board for the implementation of MdM's mission statement in their region of the country. Elected for a three-year term, they represent the organisation’s governance at regional level with regard to policy, funding and social missions.
The organisation's consultative structure
MdM’s consultative structure is made up of groups focused either on a programme thematic (thematic group) or a geographical region (geopolitical group). These groups are made up of volunteer board delegates (volunteer managers) and any other members interested in the subject. They ensure the coherence of MdM's mission in the regions for which they are responsible and ensure compliance with the mission statement. They provide a permanent link between the organisation’s “grassroots” (civil society, activists, the field, etc.) and the organisation’s decision-making bodies (the Board and Executive Committee).
They propose strategies and intervention priorities. Their role is crucial in the analysis of contexts and the choice of intervention modalities, as well in the preparation of our advocacy activities and our action priorities to be submitted the Board.
The National Advisory Council is made up of heads of groups and two representatives of each regional office recommended by the Board. It provides a forum for discussion between all the organisation’s different bodies (Board, regional offices, geopolitical and thematic groups, directors and guest participants) and develops proposals.
The organisation's permanent operational structure
This structure is overseen by the Directorate General and composed of the International Operations Directorate (made up of geographical units), France Operations Directorate, Health & Advocacy Directorate, Communication & Development Directorate, Human Resources Directorate and Finance and Information Systems Directorate.
The board
President
Dr Carine ROLLAND, general practitioner
Vice presidents
Sophie ALARY, program director, association Aurore
Other members of the bureau
General Secretary: Roberto BIANCO-LEVRIN, social actor
Treasurer: Mustapha BENSLIMANE, director of a medico-social establishment
Full members of the board
Marie BÉCUE, lawyer
Dr Paul BOLO, general practitioner
Alexandre KAMAROTOS, director, association Défense des Enfants International
Pr Antoine LAZARUS, physician, honorary professor of Public Health and Social Medicine
Thierry MALVEZIN, special needs educator
Dr Marie Dominique PAUTI, nephrologist
Dr Marc TYRANT, general practitioner
Elsa VIDAL, consultant in humanitarian action
Alternate members
Géraldine BRUN, international consultant in public health and evaluation
Bernard JUAN, entrepreneur
Guillaume PEGON, doctor in sociology and anthropology - clinical psychologist
In France and other countries, reaching out to assist and respond to people’s needs wherever they may be.
A general practitioner based in Nantes, Carine Rolland has been a campaigner with Médecins du Monde for a number of years. Her commitment dates back to 2009 when she joined the association’s Pays de la Loire regional office. First working as a volunteer, she went on to set up and become head of mission of a programme for unaccompanied minors. In addition to her work in the field, Carine Rolland is actively involved with national bodies on issues related to migration and advocacy.
Her work as a general practitioner often brings her to provide medical treatment to people living in conditions of extreme hardship – sex workers, the homeless, migrants, etc.
Carine Rolland became a member of the Board of Médecins du Monde in 2019 and has held the post of General secretary since 2020. She defends the right to healthcare for all, without hindrance or discrimination, whether in France or elsewhere in the world.
A staunch human rights advocate, Carine Rolland will pursue this commitment during her three-year term as President of Médecins du Monde.
"In today’s environment, our political independence that’s largely due to our financial independence is our greatest strength. Médecins du Monde runs programmes in France and other countries, reaching out to assist and respond to people’s needs wherever they may be. This is made possible principally through the generosity of the public and our donors.
As an international medical NGO, Médecins du Monde can be proud of the battles it has fought over the past 40 years. We must now rise to the issues at a time in history when the pace is accelerating and we are witnessing a decline in public health systems and access to medical services, the growing concentration of wealth, undermining of fundamental human rights, intimidation of care-givers and unremitting gender-based violence. And let’s not forget the impact of climate change that’s set to be one of the greatest challenges the world will face in years to come.
It is urgent to facilitate access to treatment and vaccines for all of humankind and together strive for a world respectful of human rights and the right to life in an environment conducive to the good health of all.”
Operational Directorate
Director General: Joël WEILER
Director of French Programmes: Yannick LE BIHAN
Director of International Operations: Helena RANCHAL
Director of Communication and Development: Jean-Baptiste MATRAY
Director of Human Resources: Fanny MARTIN-BORN
Director of Finance and Information Systems: Catherine DESESSARD
Director of Legal Affairs: Loïc BLANCHARD
Director of Health Advocacy: Sandrine SIMON
Become a member
What being a member means
Becoming a member is a way of showing commitment to Doctors of the World. Fully agreeing with the principles, culture and functioning of the organisation, those who become members wish to participate in the life of Doctors of the World and in its decision-making. Full members vote at general and regional assemblies, elect heads of groups and are eligible for election to the Board and regional colleges
How to join
Only those individuals who have contributed to the work of Doctors of the World (working on our programmes in France or internationally, engaged in volunteer activity) may be members of the organisation. Membership status is granted by the Board.
The international network
MdM’s international network is comprised of 16 associations which, based on a shared charter, pursue the objectives of providing care and bearing witness.
The 11 European MdM organisations engage in joint advocacy targeting the European Union and the Council of Europe.
