What we do
The Role of Operational Research at Médecins Sans Frontières
What are the most significant gaps in access to quality medical care? Do health programs truly meet patients’ needs? Does the assistance provided by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reach people living in remote, resource-limited areas?
Operational Research (OR) helps MSF to reflect in depth on its programs and operations, to evaluate what works well in a project and to show what needs to be improved. Based in Luxembourg, Brussels and various MSF regional offices, the LuxOR Operational Research Unit conducts research projects in support of humanitarian and medical action worldwide.
LuxOR has progressively expanded its support for epidemiological activities in the field to strengthen MSF's use of evidence in operational decision-making. LuxOR assists project teams in collecting, analyzing and interpreting health data, with the aim of understanding the causes of disease, how it spreads and how to limit it.
In 2023, LuxOR supported the response to multiple epidemics of measles, cholera and malaria in at least four countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Haiti) by providing technical training for epidemiologists and field data managers, ensuring that the right tools were data collection, storage and analysis tools are in place, and providing strategic advice to medical teams.
After the implementation in 2021 of a nutrition and food security monitoring system in South Sudan, to better understand the needs of the population at project and national levels national level, LuxOR worked in 2023 to adapt the tool for use by MSF on a use by MSF on a global scale.
LuxOR shares its findings with the international MSF movement and its partner organizations, and contributes to advocacy for changes in healthcare policies and practices. The results and recommendations, based on reliable information, enable us to provide appropriate advice to local, national and international players. LuxOR's RO studies are published in renowned scientific journals and are freely accessible to researchers and the international humanitarian community.