Letter to the Editor
Following the (May 17) publication in your newspaper of an extensive piece on Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders) Greece, we would like to send out a message of assurance to your readers that we have been looking into the issues raised in the article. The Greek section of MSF is now in a new era that allows it to improve its capacity for addressing the needs of the population in distress. Last January, the Greek section reintegrated back into the international movement and in its first General Assembly since then has elected a new board and a new president. Furthermore, the MSF International Office had undertaken an impartial audit – with the full support and collaboration of the new board of MSF-Greece – into the issues which were pointed out in the article and will be fully addressing them in the upcoming weeks. We would like to clarify, though, that these issues which are being examined were matters that only affected the internal operation of the headquarter offices in Athens. At no time did these issues interfere with our missions in the field (in Zambia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Armenia) where MSF-Greece has received international acknowledgement for its valuable contribution to saving and bettering lives in areas of desperate need. Funding from donors is applied directly to missions and cannot be used for any other purpose. Furthermore, the good work that the volunteers of MSF-Greece have been offering out in the field on these missions should not be forgotten or undermined. Together with the international organization, our aim is to clarify as quickly as possible any of the issues raised in order to move ahead as a stronger, transparent organization and support the very important work our Greek teams are doing in the field and which our dedicated donors continue to support. We hope that once we have cleared up these issues we can put them behind us in order to improve the work of MSF-Greece. We would like to take the opportunity to thank our donors who continue to support our work, which allows us to bring aid to people who need it. ELENI KAKALOU, Administrative Council, MSF-Greece.
