Our values

MILITANCY,
INDEPENDENCE,
TRANSPARENCY

MILITANCY

GOING BEYOND CARE TO UPHOLD THE DIGNITY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL

We put people at the heart of our work and fight to uphold dignity for all.

We encourage our teams to constantly observe the environment in which we operate in order to understand the reality on the ground, to respond as well as possible to people’s expectations, and to jointly build our work with them.

Going beyond care, we tackle the causes, and strive to treat the system rather than the symptoms, and to improve indecent living conditions which ruin people’s health.

OUR CORE HUMANITARIAN VALUES

Health above all. Regardless of people’s administrative, social or financial status and regardless of their lifestyle. What matters to us is their health.

Empowering populations. With our local partners, communities and their representatives, we act for and with them to enable them to be real actors in their health and to claim their rights.

INDEPENDENCE

We work tirelessly to improve the indecent living conditions that ruin health.
We continue to condemn the mentality that assumes the right to deny access to healthcare.
We fight against policies that turn the healthcare system into a commercial product.

SHAKING UP THE ESTABLISHED ORDER

In the face of the ongoing cycle of emergencies, with moral, physical, institutional and even political violence, with inertia and indifference, we fight relentlessly to defend a fair and universal healthcare system.
To do so, we stand up against the system. We shake it up. We question the world and its failings, without violence but with militancy.

THE RATIONALE OF EFFECTIVENESS AND QUALITY

Our sole guide is the rationale of effectiveness and quality, free of any moral or ideological reasoning.
We know that, in order to truly help, we must first understand and listen, without judging the practices, backgrounds or situations of the people we meet.

GOING AGAINST THE TIDE

Our independence sometimes leads us down unexpected paths. We do not conform to international expectations for action, and we move into areas where our expertise can be useful even when the media, institutions, politicians or the general public do not pay attention.

WITHOUT COMPROMISE OR CENSORSHIP

We fight our battles without compromise or censorship. Our financial independence allows us to be fully politically independent. And it is because we do not accept conditions on the funding we receive that we retain our freedom.

Our freedom of speech and action is non-negotiable.

TRANSPARENCY

OUR APPROACH IS LOCAL, COLLECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE.

Since the very beginning of Médecins du Monde, our donors have been the guarantors of our independence and have allowed us to act freely in response to need. The bond of trust between us is precious and we are committed to preserving it.

Our financial independence allows us to be fully politically independent.

Because it can sometimes be hard to know which way to turn, our charter provides guidance on managing our funding.

TRANSPARENCY AT THE HEART OF OUR APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT

With 51 programmes carried out this year in France, and in 29 other countries, our teams are doing their utmost to help the most vulnerable people and to make health a right for all.

The legitimacy of these programmes is based mainly on the need for clarity and high standards in how they are operated, particularly in financial terms.

Each year we publish a full report on our activities and the origin and use of our resources.

DONATE WITH CONFIDENCE

There is another ethics body in France which controls the functioning of organisations receiving donations from the public, known as the Comité de la Charte du Don en Confiance. Médecins du Monde is accredited by this body, as are all organisations that choose to be part of it.

This monitoring body brings together French organisations and foundations which, through the “Don en Confiance” (Donate with Confidence) label, uphold an ethical charter on the disinterested management of their funds, communication and fundraising activities, budgetary rigour and transparency, as well as the effectiveness of their operations.

THE DONORS’ COMMITTEE

Because it is thanks to our donors that we are able to act, they play a special role in our organisation. They are free to question our methods, our missions, our funding and the way we operate. Some of them form the Donors’ Committee, an independent body that monitors, among other things, the proper use of the donations we receive.

The committee meets every three months, reporting to the Board of Directors and our General Assembly.

THE AUDIT COMMITTEE IS MADE UP OF:

• Four members who are volunteers who can vote:
• Two members of the Board: the treasurer by right and another member elected by the Board
• Two independent volunteers qualified in audit and risks (one of these two individuals will be elected as president)

Four individuals invited permanently who cannot vote:
Executive Director
Head of the Audit Department
Two directors