Moving forward: Responding to the climate emergency
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) invites you to join us for a special conversation about how the climate emergency is affecting the communities we serve. From the Sahel and Horn of Africa to South Asia to Central America, we are providing medical care for people who are already suffering from the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. Our teams are responding to medical needs caused by cycles of drought, flooding, and extreme weather events. We are treating climate sensitive diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and cholera. This year we are responding to a surge in malnutrition across multiple countries, with various political and economic issues compounded by environmental factors.
To reduce our own carbon and waste footprint, MSF has adopted an Environmental Pact and pledged to cut carbon emissions by half by 2030.
Join us for this online event to learn more about MSF’s evolving approach to planetary health, which recognizes that human health depends on the health of the planet.
Meet the speakers
Dr. Ana Gabriela Gutierrez Zamudio
Dr. Ana Gabriela Gutierrez Zamudio is a medical doctor from Mexico with more than nine years of experience in the medical humanitarian field. Ana Gabriela specializes in HIV/TB work and has humanitarian aid experience in Tanzania, Kenya, Ukraine, and Mozambique. She began working in Mozambique in 2015, until the closure of MSF’s HIV/TB/viral hepatitis project in 2021. Inspired by her experience in the country, she then participated in the development of MSF’s new planetary health project in Nampula province, and currently oversees its implementation as deputy medical coordinator.
Dr. Simba Tirima
Dr. Simba Tirima is the country representative for MSF in Nigeria. Since he started working with the organization in 2017, he has also served as a deputy head of mission. Originally from Kenya, he obtained he Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Idaho, where he now serves as an adjunct professor of Environmental Science and Philosophy. From 2012 to 2015 he worked as director of field operations for TerraGraphics International Foundation.
Avril Benoît
Avril Benoît is the executive director of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières in the United States (MSF-USA). She has worked with the international medical humanitarian organization since 2006 in various operational management and executive leadership roles, most recently as the director of communications and development at MSF’s operational center in Geneva, a position she held from November 2015 until June 2019. Throughout her career with MSF, Avril has contributed to major movement-wide initiatives, including the global mobilization to end attacks on hospitals and health workers. She has worked as a country director and project coordinator for MSF, leading operations to provide aid to refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Mauritania, South Sudan, and South Africa. Avril’s strategic analysis and communications assignments have taken her to countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Haiti, Iraq, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. From 2006 to 2012, Avril served as director of communications with MSF Canada. Prior to joining MSF, Avril had a distinguished 20-year career as an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in Canada. She was a documentary producer and radio host with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), reporting from Kenya, Burundi, India, and Brazil on HIV stigma, rapid urbanization, sexual violence in conflict, and political inclusion of women, among numerous other assignments and topics. Recent articles: Strong words and action needed to protect women’s lives during this pandemic