A Lifeline for Women and Children in Mocha, Yemen

In western Yemen, Mocha General Hospital is one of the few health facilities still providing essential medical care to women and children following the recent escalation in the conflict. Sara Ahmed, Health Promotion Supervisor for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Mocha, describes the growing needs and the immense challenges faced by patients and medical teams.

In a voice message shared on 16 September, Sara explains how Mocha General Hospital has become a lifeline in a city where access to medical care has become increasingly difficult.

“We have had to scale back some of our activities and focus on the most essential services. The [health workers] remaining at the hospital are (…) working under very difficult circumstances and doing everything they can to keep the services running.”

MSF has been providing medical and humanitarian assistance in the region of Mocha since 2018, with a particular focus on the city of Mocha, Mafraq and Al Khawkha.

Our work has centered mainly on maternal and child healthcare, as well as referring patients who require more advanced or specialised care. [But we] have had to scale back some of our activities (…). We are doing everything we can to keep essential medical services running at Mocha General Hospital, particularly for women and children.

Sara Ahmed, MSF Health Promotion Supervisor in Mocha

With most of Mocha’s other health facilities currently unable to operate due to a lack of personnel, the General Hospital has become a critical lifeline for people in need of medical care. As of 14 September, 30 patients were receiving treatment at the hospital, including babies in the neonatal intensive care unit and four women who were giving birth.

“The needs are extremely high and (…) it’s not just about people injured as a result of the violence: there are pregnant women who need urgent care, women who need caesarean sections, children who need treatment, and patients with illnesses that simply cannot wait.”

Last night we heard airstrikes, which obviously heighten the fear and pressure felt by both the local population and our teams. We are here to provide medical assistance. And as long as we can do so safely, we will continue to do everything we can to support those who still need it.

Sara Ahmed, MSF Health Promotion Supervisor in Mocha

At the end of the day, this isn’t just about MSF or our teams. It’s about a pregnant woman who needs an emergency caesarean section. It’s about a sick child who needs treatment.”

In addition to Mocha, MSF teams are responding to the direct impact of the current situation in other parts of the country. They are supporting hospitals in Aden, Hodeidah, Abs, Taiz, Al-Bayda and Al-Jawf by strengthening their triage capacity and providing them with essential medicines, medical supplies and trauma kits.

Strengthening Healthcare Access in Daraa, Syria

A view of surroundings from the MSF supported Nawa city in Daraa governorate, southern Syria.

Strengthening Healthcare Access in Daraa, Syria

Years of conflict have severely weakened healthcare services across Daraa governorate, Syria. Health facilities continue to face shortages of trained staff, medicines, and medical supplies, alongside unreliable infrastructure and a weak referral system. Financial barriers also remain significant, with many patients having to pay out of pocket for services or medicines they cannot afford. These gaps are particularly acute for maternal and newborn care, while mental health services and treatment for chronic diseases also remain limited.

In the Nawa region of Daraa governorate, the Directorate of Health estimates that around 90,500 people rely on health services in the area, including nearly 23,000 women of reproductive age and almost 18,000 children under 5. At the same time, people returning after years of displacement are adding to the demand on already strained services. Nawa National Hospital serves communities from across the surrounding area and functions as an important referral facility for patients requiring secondary care.

In 2026, around 604,000 people in Daraa governate are estimated to need health assistance. As of 3 September, UNHCR recorded 149,682 refugee returnees to Daraa governorate. Nawa National Hospital serves communities across Daraa governorate and neighbouring Quneitra; MSF has previously estimated that its activities at Nawa National Hospital help support a population of around 1.2 million people across Daraa and surrounding communities.

For one family from Tal Shihab in southern Syria, reaching the healthcare they needed meant travelling to Nawa National Hospital. “Because of our difficult financial situation, I could not afford the cost of a caesarean section [for my wife],” says Bilal Bashndi, whose baby was born at Nawa National Hospital. “We came from Tal Shihab. It took us around an hour and a half by car to reach the hospital.”

Since Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) began supporting Nawa National Hospital, working with the Directorate of Health to strengthen both medical services and the hospital systems needed to provide them, activities have included rehabilitation and reorganisation of key hospital spaces, repairing the hospital elevator, medical equipment, and supplies, and support to the obstetrics and gynaecology and neonatal departments.

This year, work has also included the reorganisation of the operating theatre and continued improvements to the pharmacy and other hospital support services. MSF also supports infection prevention and control, including cleaning, disinfection, and sterilisation, as well as essential services such as laundry and central sterilisation and the operation of a kitchen providing meals for patients.

At Nawa, MSF supports obstetric and gynaecological care and neonatal services, including vaginal and caesarean deliveries, antenatal and postnatal care, family planning, and care for newborns. MSF provides training for medical staff as well.

Some services have changed significantly over the past year. The neonatal department, which was previously not functioning, is now operational, while specialist coverage and access to medicines and medical supplies have improved. We can see a noticeable improvement in the services.

Tariq Al-Mohammad, MSF's deputy project medical referent

During the first year of activities, Nawa National Hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology departments admitted more than 7,100 mothers and have assisted 3,140 births — with 794 surgical intervention — while 315 newborns were admitted and treated with MSF-supported neonatal care.

Beyond Nawa National Hospital, MSF also supports primary healthcare services at Tasil Health Centre, helping people in Tasil and surrounding communities access care closer to where they live. Mental health, health promotion, and community engagement activities are also part of MSF’s support in Tasil.

Mental health needs after years of conflict

The consequences of years of conflict in Daraa extend beyond physical healthcare. Repeated exposure to violence, displacement, economic hardship, and major changes in people’s living conditions have created significant mental health and psychosocial needs. For people returning after years away, reintegrating into communities that have themselves changed can bring additional social, economic, and psychological challenges.

MSF provides mental health and psychosocial support in Nawa and Tasil, including community-based activities, individual and family support, and specialised care.

The community today needs mental health services. People have lived through years of war and repeated traumatic events.

Yousef Hannou MSF's mental health activity manager in Daraa

Hannou says that some returnees are coming back after spending many years outside Syria, sometimes to communities with damaged infrastructure, limited services, and very different living conditions from those they left behind. Adapting to these changes, alongside economic difficulties and the effects of past traumatic experiences, can further affect people’s mental wellbeing.

MSF health promotion and community engagement teams work with people in Nawa, Tasil, and surrounding communities through health education sessions, regular meetings with community representatives, and group discussions. The teams gather feedback on barriers to healthcare, concerns about the services provided, and suggestions for how they can be improved.

One of our main achievements in community engagement has been establishing networks of community health workers in Nawa and Tasil, made up of people from the communities themselves. We wanted community health workers to come from the same communities, so that participation is more effective.

Mohammad Abazid, MSF health promotion supervisor

MSF has also strengthened infection prevention and control measures within the facility. In addition, water and sanitation teams have ensured adequate water supply and proper waste disposal at the facility over the past year. MSF is initially supporting the hospital’s water supply with around 70.000 liters of water per month. These interventions have significantly improved the overall functionality and quality of services at the hospital.

Despite incipient recovery over the past year, significant gaps remain across Daraa’s healthcare system. Substantial support is still needed to ensure patients can access consistent, good-quality care closer to home.

As conflict engulfs Mocha, health workers keep hospital open

Negah Abdallah Ali, 35, starting her breastfeeding journey with her newborn son Ashraf in hte recover room in Mocha Maternity in Yemen

As conflict engulfs Mocha, health workers keep hospital open

In Yemen, the escalation of the conflict and the rapid advance of Ansar Allah forces on the western coast have had a profound impact on Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) activities. From Aden, Lou Cormack, MSF Country Coordinator in Yemen, explains the situation.

Our teams have been present in Mocha and the surrounding area since 2018. Our work focuses on improving access to paediatric and maternal healthcare, a lifeline for many women and children in an area where access to such care is a daily challenge.

Lou Cormack, MSF Country Coordinator in Yemen

In Mocha, we support the General hospital through the direct presence of MSF teams, as well as through broader support to the hospital and Ministry of Health staff. Outside the city, we also support maternal and paediatric healthcare in two healthcare centres in the region: Mafraq, east of Mocha, and Khawkhah, to the north. In these two facilities, our support includes funding, training, medical equipment, and supplies. We do not have permanent MSF teams based there.

The rapid evolution of the situation this week, including the swift advance of Ansar Allah forces and their control of most of the western coast, has had a major impact on both medical activities and the needs of people in recent days.

Just a few days ago, our teams in Mocha were preparing to reopen our former field hospital in the city to treat patients, including providing trauma stabilisation, in response to the fighting taking place east of Mafraq and the gradual arrival of displaced people in Mocha.

Lou Cormack, MSF Country Coordinator in Yemen

We had already started providing water to displaced people arriving in the city, as well as finalising the setup of cholera isolation and treatment units in Khawkhah and Mocha. We were also increasing our ambulance fleet to refer critical patients to Aden, as hospitals there were at capacity.

The rapid advance of Ansar Allah forces has fundamentally changed the situation. Within hours, the hospitals providing trauma services on the western coast were evacuated, while large numbers of people fled Mocha towards the south and Aden, including healthcare workers from the city’s hospitals. The General hospital in Mocha was no exception.

Our team remained in Mocha, but we had to scale back and reorganise our activities and focus on one immediate priority: doing everything possible to keep essential medical services at the General hospital running.

So far, thanks to the commitment of Yemeni doctors, gynaecologists, nurses, and other healthcare workers, we have been able to maintain a minimum level of essential care, including deliveries, emergency care, and intensive care. As of today, around 30 healthcare workers remain present at the hospital. This may not seem like many, but their work is saving lives.

Our medical and humanitarian mission must be respected... Without these basic guarantees, we simply cannot do our job: treating people and saving lives.

Lou Cormack, MSF Country Coordinator in Yemen

When the city was taken, dozens of patients were still hospitalised in the maternity and paediatric wards. It was essential to maintain their care while continuing to receive patients requiring urgent treatment. On that day [Thursday 10 September], hospital teams cared for two patients who arrived in the paediatric and maternity emergency departments, performed two emergency caesarean sections, and continued caring for seven patients in intensive care and 10 babies in the neonatal intensive care unit, in addition to dozens of other patients and babies in the regular wards.

The situation remains extremely challenging. As of 11 September, almost all other healthcare facilities in the city had stopped functioning, largely because their staff had left. There is currently no possibility of referring patients, either within the city or to Aden.

The medical needs were already enormous before the latest escalation. They are even greater now.

We are looking for ways to reinforce our team in Mocha, but this is not straightforward. The situation remains highly stressful for both people and our teams. There were further bombardments overnight, and there is still considerable uncertainty about what may happen in the coming hours and days.

For us to continue providing care, our medical and humanitarian mission must be respected. Medical facilities, vehicles and staff must be protected so that people can safely access the care they need. This is also essential to allow patients in critical condition to be referred safely when the treatment they need is not available locally. Any threat to the medical mission puts the provision of essential healthcare at risk and may jeopardise our ability to continue working in Mocha. Without these basic guarantees, we simply cannot do our job: treating people and saving lives.

We do not know what will happen next. What we do know is that medical needs are enormous and go far beyond trauma care. We will continue to do our utmost to support the community and maintain access to essential healthcare for as long as we can.”

Following the recent escalation of fighting in western Yemen, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirms that its teams remain in Mocha, supporting the General Hospital.

Over the past few days, many people have fled the city, including health staff from most hospitals. With several health facilities currently not functioning, the staff who remain at the General Hospital are a vital source of medical care for people in Mocha.

The needs are high and go far beyond trauma care. As of today, around 30 MSF healthcare workers are doing their utmost to help keep essential services running in the hospital, including maternity and paediatric care, as well as treatment for a range of other medical needs, including cholera. Their work is saving lives.

For this work to continue, the medical and humanitarian mission must be respected. Medical facilities, vehicles and staff must be protected so that people can safely access the care they need. This is also essential to ensure that patients in critical condition can be safely referred when the treatment they need is not available locally.

We are looking for ways to reinforce our team in Mocha, but this is not straightforward. The situation remains highly uncertain and is stressful for both the population and our teams. We are closely monitoring developments and engaging with the relevant authorities on the need to protect medical and humanitarian activities.

MSF has been supporting the provision of care in Mocha since 2018. Today, as yesterday, our focus remains clear: to ensure that people in Mocha can continue to access essential medical care despite the current uncertainty.

Sudan Aid Cuts Force Widespread Clinic Closures

Amidst a brutal ongoing war and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, people in Sudan face reduced access to healthcare as facilities across the country close their doors. The impact of broad and historic international aid funding cuts by governments has begun to take hold. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that this withdrawal of support from an already chronically underfunded crisis is cutting off lifesaving care and pushing the few remaining hospitals to breaking point.

As world leaders gather at the UN General Assembly, governments and institutional donors must protect funding for essential health services in Sudan and provide flexible transitional financing where facilities are at risk of closure.

With aid organisations pulling out, local clinics are left without the funds or medicines needed to function. For patients, this means enduring long, dangerous journeys just to receive treatment. As they seek help wherever they can, the few hospitals still operational are absorbing the overflow: between January and April 2026, admissions in MSF supported facilities in Zalingei and Rokero, in Central Darfur state, jumped by 22.5 per cent compared to the same time last year. The situation has deteriorated even further as in May alone 45 general healthcare centres in Central Darfur stopped receiving support as the organisation that had been providing resources lacked funding.

“War is driving Sudan’s needs; funding cuts are shrinking the response,” says Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF head of mission in Sudan. “MSF’s work in Sudan is privately funded. But when funding disappears from other health services, clinics close, patients have fewer places to go, and pressure shifts to the facilities that remain, including ours.”

But when funding disappears from other health services, clinics close, patients have fewer places to go, and pressure shifts to the facilities that remain, including ours.

Muhammad Ibrahim, MSF head of mission in Sudan

“Donors must protect essential health services and provide sustained, flexible funding to organisations that depend on it,” says Ibrahim.

In Tanedba camp, in Gedaref state, home to 18,400 refugees, the sudden departure of a humanitarian organisation in June resulted in the camp’s maternity and surgical wards closing. Pregnant women who need caesarean sections now face three-hour journeys to the nearest city. MSF has stepped in to run the emergency room there through the end of 2026.

In 2021, around 35 aid organisations were working in and around Um Rakuba camp in Al-Gedaref state. Today, fewer than 10 remain. The camp now hosts around 17,000 refugees, mostly women and children.

“Our hospital in Um Rakuba is now the only lifeline left for both refugees and the local Sudanese community,” says Fabrizio Locuratolo, MSF humanitarian affairs manager. “But the cuts here go well beyond healthcare. Food rations are shrinking and protection programmes are being dismantled, pulling away the last safety nets and leaving refugees completely exposed.”

After the United States (US) government announced the closure of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) in 2025, the grants to many organisations funded to work in Sudan ended in June this year. Although the US government continues to be the largest donor to Sudan, providing funding to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other organisations, many of the existing healthcare providers have been unable to find alternative funding to continue providing services, with health facilities closing in Sudan as a result.

Just as health providers faced the impending removal of US support, many European governments also reduced their assistance to people in Sudan. European and multilateral aid budgets are also shrinking globally. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) preliminary data show that aid from EU institutions fell by 13.8 per cent in 2025, while several major European donors also reduced their overall aid spending.

Globally, humanitarian aid fell by 35.8 per cent. These figures do not represent equivalent cuts to Sudan, where some European donors have maintained or increased their support. But they point to a sharply contracting international funding environment. In Sudan, that wider squeeze is compounding an already severe health crisis, as specific funding withdrawals and programme closures reduce access to healthcare.

“Closing a clinic does not remove a single patient. It just sends them to the next facility,” says Sebastián Traficante, MSF emergency coordinator in Darfur. “After a longer and more expensive journey, patients often arrive in a much more serious condition, and the hospital may already be full. MSF can reinforce some services, but we cannot absorb every closure.”

In Central Darfur’s Hamidiya displacement camp, a health centre that previously provided maternity, paediatric, and mental health care is now operating at sharply reduced capacity after an international aid organisation ended its support. Daily patient visits have dropped from 200 to barely 40, and vaccinations have stopped. The fall was not a sign that people had become healthier. They had stopped making the journey to a centre that could no longer treat them. A labourer in Darfur earns roughly US$1, a day. The US$2 transport fare to reach a working clinic therefore costs about two days’ wages, leaving residents to choose between healthcare and food.

“That money could buy food instead,” a patient told MSF. “If there is no food, there can be no health.”

Despite the presence of around 50 NGOs in Tawila, critical gaps persist for up to 600,000 displaced people. MSF runs the only 200-bed hospital in the area and is the only organisation capable of mounting a large-scale epidemic response. Malaria and malnutrition cases are already rising despite limited rainfall, ahead of the peak of the rainy season — and we expect numbers to increase as the rain intensifies. In August, our teams admitted 191 children under five with severe malnutrition to our inpatient feeding centre, and nearly 22 per cent also tested positive for malaria.

These closures are happening during a large-scale, severely underfunded humanitarian crisis. The UN reports that 825,000 children under five are expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition and 19.5 million people faced crisis-level hunger earlier this year, meaning families either do not have enough food to eat or can only meet basic food needs by resorting to measures such as selling the assets they depend on to survive. Yet the UN’s $2.87 billion response plan is barely 41 per cent funded, and 37 per cent of Sudan’s health facilities are estimated to be completely out of service (According to the World Health Organization).

Malnourished children are reaching hospitals in critical condition in Yemen

As health and malnutrition services scale back across northern Yemen, MSF teams are treating more malnourished children with severe complications and urges donors to sustain essential support.

After more than a decade of conflict and economic decline, children across Yemen continue to face alarming levels of malnutrition. At the same time, sweeping humanitarian funding cuts have forced organisations providing health and malnutrition services to scale back or halt activities, particularly in northern Yemen. As families are pushed to travel longer distances to seek care, MSF teams are seeing more malnourished children arriving at our health with serious medical complications such as measles.

MSF calls on donors and humanitarian actors to sustain support for essential malnutrition and child health services and to ensure treatment remains accessible close to communities.

Yemen’s humanitarian response has faced chronic underfunding in recent years, further worsened by major reductions in international aid since 2025, including cuts to US-funded assistance and reductions from other donors.

In parts of Hajjah and Al Hudaydah governorates, where MSF teams work, some providers have halted activities or reduced services, leaving health facilities understaffed or without adequate supplies, limiting access to timely treatment for malnourished children.

When common illnesses become life-threatening

“Since birth, Yara has suffered from recurrent infections and fever,” says One-year-old Yara Ali’s mother, who lives in Aslam District, Hajjah Governorate. “We initially treated her with traditional remedies, including cauterisation.”

When Yara’s condition worsened, her mother brought her to Abs General Hospital where MSF supports medical services. It was not their first visit. “I brought her to the hospital once during Ramadan, once in March, and twice in April. This is her sixth visit to the hospital,” says Yara’s mother.

For Yara, recurrent lung infections are accompanied by fever, vomiting, and difficulty breathing and eating or breastfeeding.

“Every time I bring Yara to Abs Hospital, she receives the care she requires and recovers,” says Yara’s mother. “We always return home with her condition greatly improved.”

But reaching appropriate care is becoming increasingly difficult for many Yemeni families.

Fewer services, longer journeys

Even before funding cuts, families in rural areas already faced significant barriers to reaching health care. Long distances, poor roads, and transportation costs made it difficult to reach health facilities. But as health and malnutrition programmes close or reduce activities due to funding shortages, health care becomes even less accessible and the challenges of reaching it become even greater.

At the MSF-supported Al-Salam Hospital in Khamer, one mother said she travelled for eight hours with her 3-month-old baby after being unable to access the treatment the child needed in Al Jawf, closer to their home.

“My baby had diarrhoea and vomited for four days and was about to pass away,” she says. “A doctor in Al Jawf advised me to come to Al-Salam Hospital because they provide free medical services. My husband works far away from home and there was no one to take us here. We travelled from Al Jawf to Sana’a and then to Khamer, and it took us eight hours to reach the hospital.”

By the time some children reach medical care, they have developed serious medical complications. Delays in accessing treatment can turn manageable conditions into medical emergencies. MSF is witnessing this more frequently in the facilities it supports.

“I feared I would lose my daughter,” she says. “Watching her condition worsen while help was so far away was heartbreaking. Every hour felt like a race against time.”

More children arriving in critical condition

Between January and June 2026, MSF teams at Al-Salam Hospital admitted 1,296 children with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications, compared with 798 during the same period in 2025 — a 62 per cent increase.

During this same period, the hospital’s ambulatory therapeutic feeding centres treated 1,775 children with malnutrition, including 1,251 with severe acute malnutrition, and 524 with moderate acute malnutrition.

Malnutrition admissions usually rise in April before Yemen’s agricultural lean season. But the sharper increase observed this year suggests that seasonal pressures are being compounded by deteriorating living conditions and reduced access to health care.

MSF teams are seeing similar warning signs elsewhere.

At Abs General Hospital in Hajjah Governorate, MSF teams treated 1,245 malnourished children between January and June 2026. Many arrived with medical complications.

Admissions related to maternal malnutrition increased from 689 cases in 2025 to more than 1,260 cases in the first six months of 2026. This sharp increase highlights a growing burden of maternal malnutrition, placing both mothers and newborns at greater risk of adverse outcomes, including preterm birth.

At MSF-supported facilities in Mocha, Taiz governorate (Mocha Hospital and Al-Mafraq PHC), and in Hudaydah governorate (Al-Khawkhah PHC), 4,909 children were diagnosed with acute malnutrition between January and June 2026, including 1,637 with severe acute malnutrition and 3,236 with moderate acute malnutrition.

In Al Hudaydah governorate, on the west coast of Yemen, MSF teams witnessed a sharp rise in admissions for complicated severe acute malnutrition. In just six months, MSF teams have already treated more than 50 percent of the total severe acute malnutrition cases we saw in all of 2025.

The emergency response in Al Bayda has highlighted the scale of the crisis across Yemen and may reflect conditions in areas where MSF is not present. In light of this, health authorities have renewed their call for MSF to expand and intervene in other regions to help address the growing needs.

MSF cannot fill the gaps alone

MSF continues to provide treatment for malnutrition and other medical complications, but emergency medical organisations cannot replace a broader health and nutrition system.

Our teams are treating children today, but we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg, Yemen’s malnutrition crisis requires sustained funding, flexible donor support, and stronger partnerships to meet the scale of the need.

Ainur Absemetova, MSF Head of Mission in Yemen

For thousands of families across Yemen, that hope increasingly depends on whether care remains available when and where their children need it.

Without adequate community and primary health care services, more families may be forced to undertake long journeys for care, and more children may reach hospitals only after their condition has become severe.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides and supports care for children suffering from acute malnutrition and associated medical complications in several locations in Yemen, including Abs General Hospital in Hajjah Governorate, Al-Salam Hospital in Khamer, Amran Governorate, and MSF-supported facilities in Mocha, Taiz Governorate. MSF activities include inpatient treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications, as well as ambulatory therapeutic feeding services in locations where these are available.

The figures cited in this article reflect patients treated or identified at specific MSF-supported facilities and should not be interpreted as representative of the overall prevalence of malnutrition in Yemen.

International Activity Report 2025

Médecins Sans Frontières

International Activity Report 2025

Dr Hasna Hena Mou and medical assistant Rajib Mazumdar treat Shofi Mohammad for abscesses in the emergency room of MSF’s Kutupalong hospital, as Shofi’s father, Anas Mohammad, comforts him. Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, May 2025.

Foreword

In moments of crisis and exclusion, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams strive to save lives and alleviate people’s suffering. We provide the care that we can with our colleagues, collaborators, and supporters, but in 2025 we saw growing gaps that are not ours to fill.

When people with power renege on their responsibilities and shared humanity, the communities we serve pay a high price.

In many of the places where we worked, we saw a deficit of accountability that ranged from negligence to flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.

An MSF medical team treats a child in the emergency room of the Kutupalong hospital, Bangladesh.

About MSF

International Activity Report 2025

msf.org17 Jul 2026

2025 in review

The scale of people’s needs – whether due to war, internal instability, disease outbreaks, or the difficulty in accessing medical care – became further highlighted in 2025 amid a climate of aid cuts and anti-humanitarian rhetoric. MSF teams around the world worked to assist people in 72 countries, in an ongoing act of solidarity.

Palestinians gather at a food distribution site in Netzarim, Gaza.

Photo story

A Year in Pictures 2025

msf.org5 Dec 2025

Feature articles

01 / 03

10 Years of UN Resolution 2286: Protect Healthcare

Ten years after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2286, MSF calls on states to respect their commitment to protect medical care, healthcare workers and humanitarian missions in conflict zones.

Four Years of Full-Scale War in Ukraine

Four years of war have deeply affected communities across Ukraine. MSF continues supporting people impacted by violence, displacement and disrupted healthcare services.

Ebola and DRC: MSF Responds to Ituri Outbreak

MSF teams are responding to the Ebola outbreak in Ituri, supporting patients, infection prevention measures and community health activities.

Our activities around the world in 2025

Our teams provided medical care in over 70 countries in 2025. Click on the map to find out more.

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The place names and boundaries used in this report do not reflect any position by MSF on their legal status.

Facts and figures

Our activities in figures

An MSF mobile clinic team examines patients at a transit centre for displaced people in Ukraine.

17,071,300

outpatient consultations

A neonatal nurse checks the vital signs of a newborn baby at the MSF maternity hospital in Khost, Afghanistan.

405,000

births assisted, including caesarean sections

Two MSF doctors review a patient report in the paediatric intensive care unit in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.

2,941,600

emergency room admissions

International Financial Report 2025

Every year we publish our audited combined financial statements. These combined accounts are a means of transparency and accountability, providing a global overview of MSF’s work.

The International Financial Report represents an aggregation of the financial statements of the 24 sections, 18 branch offices, numerous satellite organisations, and MSF International.

A woman accompanies her mother to an MSF mobile clinic for people displaced from Sudan in Renk County, South Sudan.

Annual report

International Financial Report 2025

msf.org29 May 2026

How your donations are used

Your donations pay for millions of consultations, surgeries, treatments and vaccinations every year.

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79%

Social mission
16%

Fundraising
5%

Management & general admin

Water is life: People of Southern Lebanon must not be punished

Without water, there can be no return. Across Southern Lebanon, Israeli military has damaged and destroyed water infrastructure and continues to do so, effectively preventing families from rebuilding their lives and turning a basic human need into an obstacle to recovery.

Since March, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have left a new trail of devastation, compounding the damage and hardships caused since the September 2024 escalation. Although a ceasefire has been in place since mid-April, attacks have continued, and several villages along the southern border have become inaccessible because they are located in areas occupied by the Israeli military. Nobody lives in there anymore. Adjacent to them, lays a second line of devastated villages, where some families have made the difficult decision to return despite immense challenges.

When we travel through the villages of southern Lebanon, one issue comes up everywhere we go. Before people ask about healthcare, education, or housing, they ask about water.

Charlene Silvin, MSF Project Coordinator in Lebanon

MSF teams have visited many of these communities and have witnessed the damage firsthand. A pattern repeats itself in every village. Israeli direct and indirect attacks have damaged historic buildings, places of worship, healthcare facilities, homes, and essential infrastructure. Water and electricity systems have been particularly affected. In every location MSF visited, solar panels powering water infrastructure had been struck or damaged, disrupting the systems that communities rely on every day.

This alarming pattern shows a recurrent attempt to damage and destroy infrastructure that communities depend on to access water, a basic need.

What stands out most is that the damage does not affect just one piece of infrastructure. It affects the entire water ecosystem. Wells, pumps, filtration units, storage tanks, generators, pipelines, and solar-powered systems have all been impacted. When one component is destroyed, the entire system stops functioning, leaving people without a reliable access to a resource that is indispensable for survival and recovery.

The result of this damage impact people’s daily lives, health, dignity and the ability to remain or return to their communities.

The consequences extend far beyond infrastructure. Water is not only needed for drinking. It is essential for cooking, washing, sanitation, and every aspect of daily life. It is also critical for agriculture, which remains the primary livelihood for many families in southern Lebanon. When water systems fail, both households and local economies suffer.

In Yater for example, the community water tank was directly hit and damaged beyond repair. To ensure people could still access water, MSF teams provided temporary plastic storage tanks while a longer-term solution is developed. While, in Froun, the tank was damaged beyond repair, so the teams repaired the water filtration unit and connected it directly to the water source, bypassing the damaged infrastructure.

As I speak with returning residents, I cannot ignore a difficult question they raise. These repeated attacks have caused extensive damage to water sources and other vital infrastructure. They are creating significant obstacles for people who want to return home and rebuild their lives. They ask: Why is this happening? It must be intentional

Charlene Silvin, MSF Project Coordinator in Lebanon

This question is legitimate. When people are deprived of water across multiple communities, the consequences trickle down beyond the water itself. The loss of access to water also undermines livelihoods, particularly for families who depend on agriculture and the land to survive.

One thing is certain. Restoring water systems is a basic necessity. Yet the presence of organisations that could support people in these areas close to the so-called security zone is very limited. Efforts made by MSF are important, but they are not enough. The scale of need far exceeds the current efforts. Humanitarian organisations cannot be expected to repeatedly repair essential systems that may be attacked and destroyed again.

Across Southern Lebanon, people continue to deliver a clear message: without water, there can be no return to normal life. Water is dignity, livelihoods and recovery. Above all, water is life and a basic right that Israel must respect. These repeated attacks must stop. People must be allowed back to their homes, to rebuild their livelihoods, lives and dignity.

MSF team arrives in Nepal to assess people’s needs following devastating flash floods

After a major flash flood struck the Rasuwa district in Nepal, on Wednesday 26 August, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team experienced in providing emergency response has arrived in Nepal to assess people’s immediate needs. We stand ready to provide urgent humanitarian and medical assistance.

The floods rapidly impacted the Timure, Rasuwagadhi, and Syabrubesi areas causing significant damage to settlements, markets, and infrastructure. Flood waves are estimated to have been as large as 8-10 metres in some locations. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are feared to have died, with many people still missing.

Floodwaters reached the town of Mugling, in Chitwan district, and have since begun to recede. However, authorities say the risk remains high, as the blocked section of the river upstream has not yet been fully cleared.

High-alert warnings have been issued for communities located along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers, particularly in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, and Chitwan districts. People living along riverbanks have been advised to move to safer locations.

Authorities are carrying out urgent search and rescue operations in affected areas, and a full health emergency response has been initiated.

The MSF team arrived in Nepal less than 24 hours after the floods struck, and we are engaging with health facilities to assess if we can support. We know from our years of experience in emergencies that people in affected areas will have urgent needs for shelter, non-food items such as hygiene and cooking items, access to clean water and latrines, and emergency medical and trauma support.

MSF teams are assessing how we can provide assistance to people and stand ready to support the national response to this tragedy.

Escalating violence and movement restrictions continue to drive medical needs in Hebron

As Israeli settlers and armed forces increase attacks across the West Bank of Palestine unabated, Palestinians are struggling to access basic healthcare due to restrictions, insecurity, and systematic violence. Despite Israeli authorities limiting our capacity to respond to major health concerns, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expanded mobile clinic activities in Hebron, including to support people with their mental health needs that are driven by intentional violence.

Violence driving physical and mental health needs

Repeated attacks, displacement, movement restrictions, and deteriorating living conditions are impacting people’s physical and mental health in Hebron.

Ismail Ibrahim, a patient from outside Yatta, a city in Hebron governorate, says he has been attacked three times in recent months.

“Settlers sprayed pepper spray on my face while I was working in an olive grove the family had been raising for years,” he says. “They grazed animals among the olive trees, damaging the land, destroying and breaking the trees. When the police arrived, they told us we weren’t allowed to speak to the settlers.”

“Every day the situation becomes worse,” says Ibrahim. “Many people in our community have been attacked. Once they came at night and stole 200 sheep. They cut the gate to the sheep enclosure. We managed to recover only a few.”

At least 77 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers this year in the West Bank, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).[1] This figure is already higher than the whole of 2025. Since March, between 17% and 38% of our psychological consultations were driven by events of intentional violence compared to a range of 13% or less at the beginning of the year.

Between January and July, MSF teams provided over 1,930 individual consultations for mental health and conducted 436 group therapy sessions through mobile activities and a fixed consultation room. In the same time period, our teams in Hebron also received nearly 170 alerts for incidents such as home demolitions, injuries, or attacks on the water and sanitation system. We ran 27 rapid responses, which can include mental health support, or the donation of essential items like mattresses or tarpaulin.

Growing barriers to medical care

In addition to escalating violence, movement restrictions and a collapsing healthcare system are also causing barriers to care.

“We have noticed a growing demand for our medical services because people are facing difficult economic conditions and cannot afford private healthcare,” says Dr Mohammad Haroub, assistant medical coordinator for MSF in Hebron.

A shortage of healthcare workers compounds the issue. Following its offensive in Gaza, Israel has withheld billions of dollars of tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority. This has severely impacted the payment of health workers, resulting in medical staff working reduced hours, and in some cases clinics are completely closed.

“The limited availability of health services, and shortages of healthcare workers and medicines within the Ministry of Health have created an additional burden,” says Dr Haroub. “Some patients tell us they have been without medication for several days.”

On top of this, reaching healthcare has also become increasingly difficult for many Palestinians. This is due to insecurity, checkpoints, and road closures.

“Life has become a heavy burden because of settler attacks,” says Aisha*, a woman from a village near Yatta who reached an MSF clinic in Khallet Al Mai. “I’m afraid all the time. My relatives hardly sleep. They’re afraid settlers might come.” Although only kilometres away, Aisha’s journey to the clinic was made longer by insecurity and detours.

Her mother-in-law suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure but, she says, “not all the medicines are available” where the family lives.

[1] OCHA: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-report-23-july-2026

Operational constraints amid uncertainty

Despite the constraints, between January and July, MSF carried out 7,595 medical outpatient consultations in Hebron, including 1,910 for sexual and reproductive health. In June and July, having expanded from five to eight mobile clinics, MSF teams provided 1,450 and 1,397 outpatient consultations respectively. These were the highest monthly figures in 2026, a 26 per cent increase compared with the previous two months. The most common issues people required healthcare for were gynaecological conditions, non-communicable diseases, upper respiratory infections, and conjunctivitis.

This comes after we were forced to reduce more than half our mobile activities in the first quarter of the year amid deregistration by the Israeli authorities. This limited access to areas such as the militarised H2 neighbourhood in Hebron City and villages in Masafer Yatta hills, which are prone to violence and attacks. To reach patients from communities that could no longer be visited by MSF, we launched new clinics close to the edge of Area C, an area exclusively controlled by the Israeli forces, ensuring people there could still access our services.

Despite adapting activities, MSF teams continue to face significant operational constraints.

“Every day, we don’t know whether we will even reach the clinic. The context is constantly changing,” says Elisa Tamimi, MSF humanitarian affairs officer in Hebron. “Sometimes entire areas are placed under closure for a day, two days, or even a week. This has a huge impact on people’s lives. Many have lost their jobs and cannot find new work.”

“Israeli authorities must halt all measures that force Palestinians from their homes, ensure unhindered access to healthcare and humanitarian assistance, protect civilians, and comply with international law,” says Joan Tubau, MSF head of mission for Palestine.

Aisha says they are not asking for much: “I hope life can return to how it was before the war. I hope people can live with dignity. I want people to go out without fear, to have healthcare, education, and basic necessities.”

ENDS

*Name changed to protect identity.

Bekaa: Where lives have been upheaved in the shadow of war

Beyond the devastation in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, the war’s consequences have also reached the Bekaa Valley, a vast agricultural region in eastern Lebanon bordering Syria. This adds yet another layer to the overlapping crises the region has endured, including economic collapse, underfunded healthcare facilities, inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure, and a protracted refugee situation.

Since Israeli bombardment escalated on 2 March, people fleeing blanket evacuation orders have sought refuge across the Bekaa, where already vulnerable communities, including Syrian refugees, face mounting pressure. Displacement in the governorate peaked in April, with 52,935 people recorded as displaced in shelters and within host communities. Today, many of the families returning to their homes and neighborhoods within Bekaa are facing facilities damaged by Israeli bombardment and different barriers to accessing healthcare.

Many have settled in the Bekaa, renting what they can afford, staying in collective shelters, or returning to family homes left years earlier. For them, displacement didn’t end when the bombardment became less intense; it became the slower work of rebuilding with no income and often no health coverage, in a governorate where public attention has largely moved on.

Displaced, Without Stability

In Kamed El Loz, in Lebanon’s West Bekaa, the landscape opens into farmland and wide valley views, but for families like Maha and Hassan, finding a place to live does not mean finding stability. In a rented room, Maha cares for her husband, Hassan, since March, when the war forced them out of Al Khiyam, southern Lebanon, where their house was destroyed. Hassan cannot move independently; Maha is his only caregiver. Staying at her sister’s second-floor apartment proved unworkable, so they moved to Kamed El Loz, with no income and no immediate prospect of returning home.

“Since we left our home, everything has become more difficult. I must take care of my husband and manage everything on my own,” Maha said.

Maha had stopped taking the medication she needs as she could no longer afford it.

Through outreach visits, MSF teams met Hassan and Maha, and helped them access the healthcare services they need.

Since 2 March, MSF teams in the Bekaa have provided 13,722 medical consultations, including 7,505 for acute conditions, 6,760 for non-communicable diseases, 2,570 sexual and reproductive health interventions, and 852 consultations for children under five, alongside 3,270 health promotion sessions.

In Zahle, Bekaa governorate, another family faces a different upheaval, as they prepared to welcome a new member of the family. Before the war, the family was living in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, building a life around agriculture. Khalil and his pregnant wife, Mirna, returned to his hometown, Zahle, into an old family house inherited from his grandfather; shelter, but not stability. With Mirna close to giving birth, the family had no way to cover the cost.

“Our work is gone, and our lives are torn,” Khalil said.

The consequences of the war have affected families like Mirna and Khalil far beyond their homes, disrupting their income, housing, and ability to prepare for the birth of their child.

“When you are preparing for your child to be born, you should think about the future. Instead, I was worried about how we would pay for the delivery and how we would rebuild our lives.” Khalil reflected.

Through its partnership with Libano-Français Hospital in Zahle, MSF helped ensure Mirna could access the hospital’s specialized maternity care and give birth safely.

What Access to Healthcare Means

“The Lebanese population is enduring difficult living conditions due to the protracted economic crisis exacerbated by the ongoing armed conflict and political instability. Internally displaced people, refugees, and less privileged communities are among those most affected, often facing overcrowded living conditions, limited access to healthcare, and growing difficulties affording food and shelter. Civilians must be protected, and safe, timely access to humanitarian assistance and healthcare must be ensured for everyone in need,” said Amro Ibrahim, MSF Bekaa project coordinator.

MSF has maintained a long-term medical presence in the Bekaa, adapting its response as needs change. In Baalbek-Hermel, MSF operates an essential healthcare center in Hermel and a mobile clinic, while across the Bekaa, mobile teams continue to reach communities where access to healthcare is limited.

Since the escalation of Israeli bombardment on 2 March, MSF has also supported people displaced into the Bekaa, including those living in collective shelters and public spaces. Teams provided essential relief items, rehabilitated water and sanitation systems, supplied fuel and water, and delivered healthcare through mobile clinics.

In the Bekaa, MSF has distributed 1,796 hygiene kits, 1,020 blankets, 962 mattresses, 109,691 liters of drinking water, 929,000 liters of water, 31,200 liters of fuel, and 32 cleaning kits since 2 March.

“In a context where people face multiple barriers to healthcare, access is not simply about having a service available. Partnering with an existing operational hospital allowed us to respond rapidly to those needs and provide safe access,” said Loubna Marouf, MSF emergency coordinator in Bekaa. MSF’s team also supports access to emergency obstetrics care at secondary health facilities in the Bekaa, strengthening hospital capacity and supporting the provision of quality, timely care to communities.

Bridging Gaps

For those who were displaced, those returning home, and those who stayed, the crisis continues to shape daily life; through lost livelihoods, damaged homes, and pressure on essential services.

MSF’s response has therefore evolved alongside these changing needs: from emergency support during displacement to longer-term healthcare activities, mobile clinics, hospital support, essential healthcare and referrals for specialized treatment.

The crisis may have moved out of the headlines, but for many in the Bekaa, its effects still shape everyday life. Maintaining access to healthcare means continuing to reach communities where they are, supporting health facilities under pressure, and ensuring that communities can receive the care they need.

The Needs That Remain

Across the Bekaa, Lebanese communities, Syrian refugees, internally displaced people and returnees continue to face the consequences of overlapping crises. For many, immediate danger may no longer be the only concern. Rebuilding a home, recovering income, and accessing healthcare can become a longer struggle.

In Bekaa, the effects of crises continue to shape where people live, how they earn a living, and whether they can access the care they need.

“I don’t feel stable, and I don’t think I will ever feel that stability again because my home is gone. I only feel at ease in my own home, in my own village,” Maha says.

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