Doctors Without Borders contender for Nobel Peace Prize

International aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) is a possible contender for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The group, founded in Paris in 1971 but now headquartered in Geneva, has played a role in the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean in addition to tackling Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Aquarius 2, run jointly by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee, is the one remaining charity rescue vessel still operating in the central Mediterranean, picking up migrants who are in most cases trying to get to Europe from Libya, often in overcrowded, unseaworthy boats.

The ship has operated in the central Mediterranean since early 2016 and the owners say it has helped more than 29 000 people in distress, many of them African migrants.

MSF have also responded to two Ebola outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo during 2018, the aid group reported on its website.

The Central African country has experienced ten Ebola outbreaks since the virus was discovered in northern Congo in 1976 – more than twice as many as any other country.

In 2015, a MSF hospital in the northern city of Kunduz was destroyed by a US air strike, killing 42 people including 14 staff. The Pentagon later blamed the attack on human error and equipment failure.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo on Friday, October 11.