MSF Analysis is a platform for the dissemination of material on the politics of health and humanitarianism provided by the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Analysis Department based in the Operational Centre Brussels as well as from guest contributors. This website is intended to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.
While the views expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the official position of MSF, they are based on analysis derived from the organisation’s experience working in over 70 countries worldwide.
Contributions to this website are primarily made by a core group that works in reflection, analysis and advocacy with the MSF Operational Centre Brussels. This group – profiled below – also makes up the informal editorial committee that receives guest contributions.
If you would like to submit an article or have any questions regarding the content found on this website, please contact info-analysis@msf.org.
Core Contributors
Aurélie Ponthieu has been working for the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) since 2006. She is currently Director of the Analysis Department at MSF in Brussels where she manages a team composed of humanitarian specialists in the areas of health politics, forced migration, conflict and humanitarianism and negotiated access. Her area of expertise includes forced migration and the humanitarian impact of asylum and migration policies. She provides support to MSF operations in terms of context analysis, positioning and advocacy strategies.
Before working at MSF Headquarters in Brussels, she has worked in MSF Operations for several years in Niger (2006), Sudan (2007-2008), Chad (2008), Colombia (2009) and Haiti (2010). She also been sent to support emergency interventions during Ebola outbreaks in Liberia (2014) and the DRC (2019). In 2020 she worked on the covid-19 pandemic, advising the MSF emergency response in Brussels and as an Emergency Coordinator in Ecuador.
Aurelie can be found on Twitter @PonthieuAurelie.
Michiel Hofman is Senior Humanitarian Specialist for MSF. In this role, he concentrates on research, training and operational support as well as publications in the humanitarian field.
He worked for MSF in field missions between 1993 and 1998 as Emergency Coordinator and Head of Mission for MSF in Liberia, the DRC, Bosnia, Burundi, Sri Lanka, Brazil, South Sudan and Kosovo. Between his missions he returned to his former career as freelance journalist.
Between 1999 and 2001, Michiel co-founded The Antares Foundation, a Dutch non-profit organisation which supports local NGOs in providing psycho-social support for staff working in high-stress environments.
Michiel returned to MSF in 2001, working as Country Director in Russia and Operations Director in Amsterdam and Country Director for Afghanistan.
Christopher Stokes is currently working as the Emergency Coordinator in Ukraine for Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Operational Center in Brussels (OCB). He has been in Ukraine since February 2022, arriving initially to help prepare in the event of an escalation of fighting and then coordinating MSF’s medical humanitarian response to the war.
Christopher is a senior humanitarian advisor and coordinator of the Conflict & Humanitarianism Team of the Analysis department, covering a range of contexts including Afghanistan, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip in addition to cross-cutting files. Between 1993 and 2001 Mr. Stokes worked for MSF in multiple field assignments including serving as Head of Mission in Angola, Indonesia/East Timor, Kosovo, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and in Russia/Chechnya during the first Chechen War. Between 2001 and 2007 he was the Director of Operations for MSF OCB, from 2007 until 2008 he was MSF’s International General Secretary, and from 2008-2018 he served as the General Director of MSF OCB.
Dr. Mit Philips is a medical doctor with a Master’s degree in Public Health for Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1993), and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine obtained in Antwerp in 1985.
She spent 15 years working and living abroad with Médecins Sans Frontières in various countries across Africa (Chad, Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia).
She joined MSF in Brussels in 1999, first serving as Director of Operations, and from 2003 as Health Policy and Medical Advocacy Advisor within the General Directorate. Her work has focused primarily on HIV/AIDS, health financing and financial barriers to healthcare, global health, and health systems policies.
From 2010 to 2012, she was also part of the Health Policy and Planning team at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, with a particular interest in global health policy and health systems in fragile states.
Dr. Mit Philips concluded her career in MSF’s Analysis Department as Coordinator of the Health Politics Team, where she continues to contribute as a volunteer following her retirement.
Reem Mussa is a humanitarian advisor and former coordinator of the Forced Migration Team in MSF’s Analysis Department. Now pursuing a PhD at the University of Bern.
Previously based in Brussels with MSF, she focused on the humanitarian and health impacts of forced migration, supporting MSF operational teams with analysis and advocacy across Southern and Northern Africa, the Pacific Region, and Europe, including emergency responses to Ukrainian displacement.
Reem is a member of the Lancet Migration European Hub and serves as co-chair of the Borders and Health working group.
Sandrine Tiller is the Coordinator of the Humanitarian Access and Networking Team within MSF Analysis Department. She joined MSF in 2011 and has since held several strategic roles, including Humanitarian Representative to the UK Government, Strategic Adviser to the Moscow office, and analyst focusing on the humanitarian aid system and the challenges posed by misinformation and disinformation. Most recently, she was seconded for two months to support MSF’s operations in Ukraine.
Prior to joining MSF, Sandrine worked with grassroots organizations in Venezuela, served with UN Volunteers in Eritrea and Tanzania, and held positions with the British Red Cross in London and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Geneva, and Lebanon.
served as Director of MSF Analysis Department from 2017 to 2021, preceding Aurélie in the role. Prior to that, he established and led MSF’s Programmes Unit in his hometown of Johannesburg, South Africa. He later worked as an Emergency Coordinator, contributing to MSF’s medical humanitarian responses in Libya, Bahrain, and Syria.
In addition to his operational roles, Jonathan has written for academic journals and mainstream media on the politics of humanitarian aid, offering critical reflections on the sector’s evolving challenges.