2022: Pictures from a year of humanitarian response

20 Dec 2022

In 2022, MSF teams around the world continued to respond to crises, old and new. While COVID-19 was not the emergency it was in previous years, new challenges arose. The war in Ukraine escalated in February; the political, humanitarian and economic crises in Haiti deteriorated severely; cholera emerged on an exceptional scale in several countries. 

This collection of 63 images, from December 2021 until November 2022, outlines 12 months of some of the work our teams undertook, highlights the people whom we serve, or illustrates the contexts in which we work. 

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A child plays with a balloon, as part of a mental health activity, at Al-Sweida camp for internally displaced people. Marib, Yemen, December 2021. © Hesham Al Hilali

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Patients and their families are transported to Bunia hospital in the UN helicopter. Following attacks in Drodo, forcing the hospital there to be abandoned, the helicopter was the only way to refer people from the MSF-run health centre in nearby Rho displaced people’s camp to hospitals that provide more advanced care. Democratic Republic of Congo, December 2021. © Alexis Huguet

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MSF teams try out a water pump as part of a bid to provide clean water and latrines to displaced people in Rho camp. Democratic Republic of Congo, December 2021. © Alexis Huguet

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Lithuanian emergency services workers prepare to take a man, who had crossed the border from Belarus and was no longer able to walk, to hospital. Kabeliai, Varėna district, Lithuania, December 2021. © Vidmantas Balkunas/BNS

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An MSF staff member inspects the remains of Barangay health centre, which was severely damaged by typhoon Rai (known locally as typhoon Odette). Surigao City, Philippines, January 2022. © Regina Layug Rosero/MSF

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Gul washes his hands with the help of his son at the MSF-supported Boost hospital in Lashkar Gah. Helmand province, Afghanistan, January 2022. © Oriane Zerah

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Nimo Abdi* rests on her bed in MSF’s drug-resistant tuberculosis ward in Hargeisa. Somaliland, Somalia, February 2022. *name changed to protect identity.  © Sean Sutton

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Seven-year-old DR-TB patient Vaishnavi speaks with MSF nurse Prachi during a home visit, as Vaishnavi’s mother Vishaka looks on. Mumbai, India, February 2022. © Prem Hessenkamp

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MSF staff walk towards Paukaw township to set up a clinic where they will provide medical and mental healthcare for displaced people in Ah Nau Ywe camp. Myanmar, March 2022. © Ben Small/MSF

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Mosquito larvae thrive in standing water in Ramba, Kalehe Territory, where MSF has distributed insecticide-treated mosquito to families to prevent malaria. South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 2022. © Norah Mbadu/MSF

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Sera James, a resident of Akello village, shares a laugh with her friends as she draws water from a pump MSF teams have just installed to improve the community’s access to clean water during the dry season. Pibor country, South Sudan, March 2022. © Njiiri Karago/MSF

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Prototypes of hand and arm prostheses, made as part of MSF’s programme to 3D print prostheses for amputee patients, sit on a shelf. Amman, Jordan, February 2022. © MSF/Soriya

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A portrait of M., from Guinea, who was treated by MSF teams in Agadez, Niger, after fleeing Libya, where he was burned, beaten and imprisoned. Agadez, Niger, March 2022. © Yarin Trotta del Vecchio

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Children watch a cartoon in the women's area on board MSF’s search and rescue ship, the Geo Barents, following their earlier rescue. Central Mediterranean Sea, March 2022. © Kenny Karpov

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Refugees who escaped from Ukraine try to find warmth in a makeshift humanitarian point at the Hrebenne border crossing. Poland, March 2022. © Maciej Moskwa

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A mother comforts her daughter while waiting to board a bus at a departure dispatch point for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. Palanca, Moldova, March 2022. © Maxime Fossat

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An MSF staff member wears a prosthetic chest so she and the health promotion team can demonstrate breast self-examination, a technique that women can use to detect lumps for potential breast cancer. Bamako, Mali, March 2022. © Maxime Fossat

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MSF teams clean and rehabilitate the wards of a hospital, which was partially destroyed by two cyclones which went through the area in February. Nosy Varika, Madagascar, March 2022. © iAko M. Randrianarivelo/Mira Photo

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A fisherman repairs his canoe while he’s unable to fish; there have been no fish since cyclone Batsirai hit the area in early February, devastating livelihoods. Nosy Varika, Madagascar, March 2022. © iAko M. Randrianarivelo/Mira Photo

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Aminata looks over her newborn baby, who she delivered at the MSF-supported community health centre in Mile 91, Tonkolili. Tonkolili, Sierra Leone, March 2022. © Oliver Barth/MSF

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A man from Venezuela holds his daughter and looks out from the pier along the Tumbes River. The pier, which is 23 kilometres from the Peru-Ecuador border, is where people rest and take shelter before continuing their journey to the border. Central Tumbes, Peru, March 2023. © Max Cabello Orcasitas

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A man hangs clothes inside the Integral Attention Centre in Mexico City, where an MSF team offers medical and mental health care to survivors of extreme violence, torture, or inhumane treatment. Mexico City, Mexico, March 2022. © Jordi Ruiz Cirera

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Muawiyah Al-Wahidi, who had his right leg amputated after being injured during an airstrike in Gaza City in 2021, is able to continue working as a barber with support from his wife, community, and an MSF psychologist. Gaza City, Palestine, April 2022. © Giles Duley

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Amro Ayman Alhadad spends his time drawing and looking after his pet bird since having his leg amputated as a result of an injury from a bullet during the Great March of Return protest movement in 2018. Gaza City, Palestine, April 2022. © Giles Duley

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An aerial view of Bentiu internally displaced persons camp, where approximately 120,000 people live, and the surrounding floodwaters. The dykes around the camp are the only thing protecting people from flooding. Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan, April 2022. © Peter Caton

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People walk along the road between flooded dykes surrounding Bentiu internally displaced persons camp. Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan, April 2022. © Peter Caton

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Members of the MSF logistics team distribute blankets and jerry cans to people who have fled violence in Agok and are now staying in Nyin Deng Ayuel displacement camp. Twic County, South Sudan, April 2022. © Scott Hamilton/MSF

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Women fetch water in a shallow well along a dry riverbed in Illeret. Drought in the region is forcing people to look for alternative water sources, which are unsafe for human consumption. Illeret ward, Kenya, April 2022. © MSF/Lucy Makori

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Akademika Barabashova, a metro station in Kharkiv, hosts people sheltering from the war. Kharkiv, Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine, April 2022. © Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

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Xiomara Villoria, a bioanalyst, holds a COVID-19 test to be processed at the Public Health Molecular Biology Laboratory in San Cristóbal. The laboratory was refurbished by MSF to include a specialised machine that is capable of analysing molecular tests. Táchira state, Venezuela, April 2022. © Matias Delacroix

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A vehicle lies abandoned and submerged in the floodwaters that have devastated Rubkona. Unity state, South Sudan, May 2022. © Peter Caton

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During the night of 11 May, the MSF search and rescue team completed two rescues, saving a total of 96 people from boats in distress in the Maltese search and rescue zone. Mediterranean Sea, May 2022. © Anna Pantelia/MSF

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Atija, a traditional birth attendant, walks through Eduardo Mondlane camp for displaced people. She works to counsel women in the camp, who like herself, have been displaced by violence. Mozambique, May 2022. © Mariana Abdalla/MSF

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A woman from Haiti retrieves water from an old transport trailer that is now being used as a water tank at the construction site for what will be the "Senda de Vida II" migrant shelter. Reynosa, Mexico, May 2022. © Yael Martínez/Magnum

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The medical team on board the MSF medical train discuss the condition of a war-wounded patient during the journey from Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, to Lviv in the country’s west. The journey takes approximately 20 hours. Ukraine, May 2022. © Andrii Ovod

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Gabriel Kalany, a nursing student of the MSF Academy in Old Fangak, gets ready for a practice session at the Skills Lab, where he will place a urinary catheter on a mannequin. Gabriel has since graduated, completing his 18 months of training. Old Fangak, South Sudan, June 2022. © Florence Miettaux

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A batch of bullets that MSF doctors removed from the wounds of patients at the Emergency Centre of Turgeau. Port-au-Prince, Haiti, June 2022. © Johnson Sabin

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Halima Hamadou is being comforted by her mother, Zeinaolou Hamadou, as a medical team treats her headwound. Diffa, Niger, June 2022. © Oliver Barth/MSF

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Hussein was born a few hours ago, by caesarean section, at Nablus hospital. His mother, who is still resting, travelled 77 kilometres to give birth. Mosul, Iraq, June 2022. © MSF/Florence Dozol

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Gulnaz plays with her daughter at her brother’s home. She travelled to her relatives’ place in Peshawar to get treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, as it is not commonly available in the country. Peshawar, Pakistan, May 2022. © Saiyna Bashir

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MSF health promoter Arina Ilchenko sits with nine-year-old Karina in a shelter for displaced people. Dnipro, Ukraine, June 2022. © Alexander Glyadyelov

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Amaka Joseph, 35, tends to her recovering child at an inpatient therapeutic feeding centre at Specialist Hospital Sokoto. “When we began treatment, I started seeing improvements. Now they can eat well and play, and this makes me happy,” she says. Nigeria, July 2022. © KC NWAKALOR

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Children gather outside a school in Liberia, Young people living with epilepsy in Liberia can find it difficult to stay in school because of their seizures and the stigma attached to them. Our teams support schools of students living with epilepsy. Liberia, June 2022. © Carielle Doe

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Teams on board the Geo Barents search and rescue evacuate a person in critical condition to Malta. On the afternoon of 27 June, MSF teams rescued 71 people from a rubber boat in distress. Central Mediterranean, June 2022. © Anna Pantelia/MSF

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An MSF nurse straps up the ankle of a patient during a medical consultation at the MSF mobile clinic in Horgos 2, a border crossing area in Serbia. In 2022, our teams provided healthcare in informal settlements at the Serbian-Hungarian and Serbian-Romanian borders through two mobile clinics. Serbia, July 2022. © MSF

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A view of a sink for washing at an informal tented area for stranded asylum seekers in Holland. Ter Apel, Netherlands, August 2022. © Olga Victorie

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People who have just arrived on Samos walk along a rocky path on the island after arriving by boat across the Aegean Sea. MSF’s emergency teams have reported high medical and humanitarian needs amongst new arrivals. Samos, Greece, July 2022. © MSF/Alice Gotheron

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An aerial view of a road and dykes being built by the UN in Bentiu. The dykes are up to 2.5 metres high and five metres wide. The flooding around Bentiu spans 80 kilometres. Bentiu, South Sudan, August 2022. © Christina Simons

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A man sits in a phone-charging shop within a refugee camp for people who have fled war in western Sudan’s Darfur province. Guereda district, Chad, August 2022. © Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

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Mohamed Hussein, who fled Myanmar because of his Rohingya ethnicity, sits with Rohingya children in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. Bangladesh, June 2022. © Saikat Mojumder/MSF

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An MSF mental health team member comforts Sanaa*, a patient in Hajjah city. “I felt empty, as if something was missing, and I didn’t know where my son was... I felt powerless, and never felt safe. Then I learned about MSF’s services in Hajjah. I came here and they offered me psychological care,” says Sanaa. Yemen, September 2022. *Name changed to protect identity. © Jinane Saad/MSF

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A child steps through a flooded street in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Cité l'Eternel. Floods are caused by clogged canals due to poor waste management. In such settings, cholera spreads rapidly due to inadequate treatment of sewage and a lack of access to clean water. Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 2022. © MSF/Alexandre Marcou

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An MSF medical doctor in consultation with a patient at the mobile clinic in Sara Sang village, Charsadda district. Khyber Pakhtuhkwa province, Pakistan, September 2022. © Zahra Shoukat/MSF

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A boy reads from his school textbook in his family’s one-room shelter in Nangar Daro village, after their house collapsed during heavy rains and flooding in Dadu district. Sindh province, Pakistan, October 2022. © Asim Hafeez

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A young patient in consultation with an MSF psychologist at a site for displaced people in Kwamouth. Besides treating the wounded and sick, our teams provide mental health sessions to help people traumatised by the violence they witness. Democratic Republic of the Congo, September 2022. © Johnny Vianney Bissakonou/MSF

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People displaced by intermittent clashes between the M23 group and Congolese army set up basic shelters at an informal camp just outside of Goma. In their escape, families took only the bare necessities with them and now lack food, shelter, water and latrines. Democratic Republic of the Congo, November 2022. © Moses Sawasawa

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In Salamabila, community health workers organise awareness-raising sessions with the community to address preventable health issues, as well as listen, answer questions and explain the importance of a decentralised approach to healthcare. Maniema province, DRC, September 2022. © Michel Lunanga/MSF

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MSF physiotherapist Ahmad Alrosan undertakes a muscle-stretching exercise on a patient with a broken wrist and amputated finger. Kyiv, Ukraine, September 2022. © Hussein Amri/MSF

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On board the Geo Barents, one survivor cuts the hair of another. The 293 survivors – including 146 minors – wait for a place of safety to disembark after having been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea. Central Mediterranean, October 2022. © MSF/Candida Lobes

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The sun sets over the horizon as survivors rescued at sea wait for a place of safety to disembark. Central Mediterranean Sea, October 2022. © MSF/Candida Lobes

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Portrait of Zainab. Zainab, from Lebanon, shares the challenges she faces in obtaining safe drinking water during a cholera outbreak in the country. “We don’t have a functioning water network here. Knowing that cholera spreads in contaminated water, I was scared that we would get sick,” she says. Arsal, Lebanon, November 2022. © Carmen Yahchouchi/MSF

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MSF teams traverse the Baudó river, on their way to treating local communities for dehydration, diarrhoea, malaria and malnutrition. Here, communities encounter food and supply difficulties, as well as mental health problems, due to clashes and lock downs. Alto Baudó, Colombia, November 2022. © MSF/Santiago Valenzuela