Today the United Nations is warning of a "severe food shortage" for 130,000 Sudanese refugees in South Sudan. Meanwhile, in the neighboring Central African Republic, the U.N. reported yesterday that nearly all Muslims have been driven out of the western half of the country. And in nearby Democratic Republic of Congo, the army says it has nearly crushed an Islamist rebel group in an offensive that has United Nations support.
In each of these war-torn countries — as well as in dozens of other conflict zones around the world — the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders is providing medical care to civilians affected by violence or natural disasters.
The President of the Board of Directors of Doctors Without Borders, Dr. Deane Marchbein, is in Minneapolis this week to speak at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Augsburg College. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for its pioneering humanitarian work.