MSF Maintains Dialogue With All Sides Of Afghan Conflict - Head Of Mission

Humanitarian non-governmental organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) maintains dialogue with all warring parties to the armed conflict in Afghanistan to keep all of them informed about the medical workers' humanitarian activities and avoid any problems, Djoen Besselink, the head of the MSF mission in Afghanistan, told Sputnik.

KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) Humanitarian non-governmental organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) maintains dialogue with all warring parties to the armed conflict in Afghanistan to keep all of them informed about the medical workers' humanitarian activities and avoid any problems, Djoen Besselink, the head of the MSF mission in Afghanistan, told Sputnik.

"In principle, MSF talks to everyone. If you want to be present in any region you need to negotiate with everyone. All parties of the conflict need to indeed understand who you are, why are you there, what are our principles," Besselink said.

The head of the mission also noted that the organization's neutrality, transparency and non-political attitude prompted local communities to accept its medical workers, and acceptance from all members of the Afghan society was what ensured MSF staff's safety in the country.

"In principle, everyone [guarantees MSF workers' security in Afghanistan]. So since we talk to everyone it is indeed from a local leader to ... the governor, to indeed the minister of health, to ... the armed activists that are there," Besselink added.

Besselink also noted that the organization did not receive any support from the Afghan government but coordinated its actions with Kabul, which, at the same time, did not prevent MSF from acting independently.

"It would be a shame to do a stand-alone medical activity and not get the bigger picture. And we don't want to duplicate, we don't want to replace the Ministry of Health, so, yes, we coordinate on several levels � we coordinate with the government, they know what we do, they know where we are, because there are plenty of examples if people start something next to another clinic, that's not what we want. So, yes, there is a lot of coordination but it is still an independent effort," Besselink said.

For decades, Kabul has been fighting numerous terrorist groups launching attacks in the country. The Taliban movement has been one of the major forces opposing the government, as its militants managed to gain control over the country in 1996 before being overthrown in 2001. In 2015, the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) started operating in the country as well. The Afghan military have been carrying out regular anti-terrorist raids.