Javid Abdelmoneim starts as new MSF International President

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has chosen Dr Mohamed Javid Abdelmoneim as our new International President. He begins his three-year mandate, following his election by representatives at MSF’s highest governance body, the International General Assembly, held on 27 June in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Dr Javid is a Sudanese Iranian emergency medicine doctor, with extensive experience in both the United Kingdom’s National Health Service and with MSF. Born in Cambridge, UK, he graduated with a degree in medicine from University College London, holds a diploma from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Having joined MSF in September 2009 as an emergency doctor in Basra, Iraq, Dr Javid has worked in medical and programme coordination roles since then in Haiti, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Chad, Ukraine, UK, in Mediterranean search and rescue, and in Sierra Leone during the West Africa Ebola epidemic. His most recent roles with MSF have been as medical team leader in Gaza, Palestine, and as medical team leader in Omdurman, Sudan, until February this year.

Dr Javid served on the board of MSF UK from May 2015 and was appointed its president in 2017, a role he held until 2021.

In addition to his humanitarian and clinical work, Dr Javid is also an experienced television presenter. He has been nominated for both Emmy and BAFTA awards for his work on science documentary and health entertainment series, which have appeared on Netflix, BBC, HBO, Channel 4, and Al Jazeera English.

“We congratulate Javid on his election and warmly welcome him as he starts his mandate as International President,” says Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of MSF International. “His extensive medical and humanitarian experience, and skills as a consummate public speaker, will stand him in excellent stead to represent MSF and lead our movement for the next three years.”

Dr Javid succeeds Dr Christos Christou, who finishes his second of the allowable two mandates as MSF International President, a role he has held since September 2019.

“Christos has admirably served MSF as International President, with tireless commitment, for six often challenging years,” says Lockyear. “He has pursued his role and represented MSF with an unwavering dedication to humanity, highlighting some of the world’s most neglected crises.”