FACTS AND FIGURES

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, private and non-profit organisation.

It is made up of 23 associations (2013): Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, East Africa, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Luxembourg, Norway, Southern Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA. MSF's day-to-day activities are managed by 19 national offices and nine branch offices (see page 100 for contact details).

The search for efficiency has led MSF to create 10 specialised organisations, called 'satellites', which take charge of specific activities such as humanitarian relief supplies, epidemiological and medical research, and research on humanitarian and social action. These satellites, considered as related parties to the national offices, include: MSF-Supply, MSF-Logistique, Epicentre, Fondation MSF, Etat d’Urgence Production, MSF Assistance, SCI MSF, SCI Sabin, Ärzte Ohne Grenzen Foundation and MSF Enterprises Limited. As these organisations are controlled by MSF, they are included in the scope of the MSF Financial Report and the figures presented here.

These figures describe MSF’s finances on a combined international level. The 2013 combined international figures have been prepared in accordance with MSF international accounting standards, which comply with most of the requirements of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The figures have been jointly audited by the accounting firms of KPMG and Ernst & Young, in accordance with International Auditing Standards. A copy of the full 2013 Financial Report may be obtained at www.msf.org.

In addition, each national office of MSF publishes annual, audited Financial Statements according to its national accounting policies, legislation and auditing rules. Copies of these reports may be requested from the national offices.

The figures presented here are for the 2013 calendar year. All amounts are presented in millions of euros.

Note: Figures in these tables are rounded, which may result in apparent inconsistencies in totals.

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

COUNTRIES WHERE WE SPENT THE MOST

* 'Other countries' combines all the countries for which programme expenses were below one million euros.

The majority of MSF staff (85 per cent) are hired locally in the countries of intervention. Headquarters staff represent 7 per cent of total staff.

Sources of income

As part of MSF’s effort to guarantee its independence and strengthen the organisation’s link with society, we strive to maintain a high level of private income. In 2013, 89 per cent of MSF’s income came from private sources. More than 5 million individual donors and private foundations worldwide made this possible. Public institutional agencies providing funding to MSF included, among others, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) and the governments of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Expenditure is allocated according to the main activities performed by MSF. All programme expenditure categories include salaries, direct costs and allocated overheads. Social mission includes all costs related to operations in the field (direct costs) as well as all the medical and operational support from the headquarters directly allocated to the field (indirect costs). Social mission costs represent 80 per cent of the total costs for 2013.

Permanently restricted funds may be capital funds, where donors require the assets to be invested; funds retained for actual use, rather than expended; or the minimum level of retained earnings that is compulsory for certain sections of MSF. Unrestricted funds are unspent, non-designated donor funds expendable at the discretion of MSF’s trustees in furtherance of our social mission.

Other retained earnings represent foundations’ capital as well as technical accounts related to the combination process.

MSF’s retained earnings have been built up over the years by surpluses of income over expenses. At the end of 2013, the available portion (excluding permanently restricted funds and capital for foundations) represented 7.9 months of the preceding year’s activity. The purpose of maintaining retained earnings is to meet the following needs: future major emergencies for which sufficient funding cannot be obtained, a sudden drop in private and/or public institutional funding, the sustainability of long-term programmes (e.g. antiretroviral treatment programmes), and the pre-financing of operations to be funded by forthcoming public fundraising campaigns and/or public institutional funding.

The complete Financial Report is available at www.msf.org