South Africa: A Year in Pictures: Explore 62 Powerful Moments From 2023-2024
Over the past 12 months, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams have witnessed the continuation and escalation of conflicts, such as those in Gaza and Sudan, where unabated wars have raged into a second year. A Year in Pictures captures these moments through 62 photos taken between December 2023 and December 2024, showcasing the highs and lows of those we assist as we provide medical and humanitarian assistance in over 70 countries. Our teams were also there for people and families seeking safety throughout the year, whether at the Mexico border or onboard our search and rescue ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
This collection also shows the breaking points – such as when we had to suspend activities in Haiti’s capital – as well as resilience and joy, such as when we witnessed a mother meeting her baby for the first time in South Sudan. These photos show how bearing witness can create a point of connection.
Medical care provides relief in the most difficult of circumstances, and we remain inspired by our staff’s commitment to delivering this care to people, even as the obstacles to doing so increase around us.
A nurse walks through the room where patients received the diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) while a patient is reflected in the glass door as she talks to visitors at the Centre de Traitement Epidemiologique in Siguiri, Guinea. Visitors are welcome in a limited capacity, having to stand behind a fence to create a two-meter-wide barrier to prevent the spread of diphtheria. MSF has helped treat over 2100 patients as of Jan. 4, 2024, and has been responding to a diphtheria outbreak in the region since mid-August, the likes of which has not been seen in the country for the last 30 years. | Date taken: 12/12/2023 | Photographer: Andrej Ivanov | Location: Guinea
South Gaza. Streets of Rafah absolutely full of people building shelters | Date taken: 27/12/2023 | Copyright: MSF | Location: Palestinian Territories
Julienne, a resident of the Kingabwa district in the commune of Limete has witnessed floods for several years now. This time she refused to leave her flooded home due to lack of accommodation in which to shelter with her whole family. Standing in front of her door, she waits for her children who have gone to school with a canoe. | Date taken: 18/01/2024 | Copyright: MSF | Location: DRC
Pendant la nuit du mercredi 24 et du jeudi 25 janvier, une petite embarcation semi-rigide (appelée aussi « small boat ») quittait le canal de Gravelines, près de Grand-Fort-Philippe, dans le nord de la France, en direction de l’Angleterre. La police essayait d’empêcher les dernières personnes d’embarquer le semi-rigide avant qu’il ne prenne le large pour tenter la traversée de la Manche. 25/01/2024, Gravelines, nord de la France | Date taken: 24/01/2024 | Photographer: Stéphane Lavoué | Location: France
Eric, 25, arrived yesterday from Minova. Determined to protect his family and concerned about the state of his parents' health, he immediately set about building a tent for them. He has already managed to erect the structure using the wood he brought back from Virunga Park. Tomorrow he will be looking for a waterproof tarpaulin to complete the shelter | Date taken: 17/02/2024 | Photographer: Marion Molinari | Location: DRC
Gisele Dorika, 18, from Rugari in Rutshuru territory, in the labour ward before giving birth at the MSF-supported Kanyaruchinya health centre, north of Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo | Date taken: 05/01/2024 | Photographer: Philémon Barbier | Location: DRC
The MSF construction team walk on the roof of a new building under construction in the Khost Maternity Hospital compound. | Date taken: 22/12/2023 | Photographer: Paul Odongo | Location: Afghanistan
Ndoungamandji Solange, Aide nurse is examining a patient | Date taken: 19/01/2024 | Photographer: Giuseppe La Rosa | Location: Chad
Dooshima was given a whistle at the MSF star clinic. This object is given to protect all the survivors who are living in a situation that is particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. Mbawa IDP camp, Benue, North Central Nigeria, December 2023 | Date taken: 14/12/2023/ | Photographer: Kasia Strek | Location: Nigeria
Vue de la zone de Delmas 18, après des combats entre des groupes armés et les forces de police. | Date taken: 16/03/2024 | Photographer: Corentin Fohlen | Location: Haiti
Al Shifa medical complex After 14 days of siege by the Israeli forces. | Date taken: 01/042024 | Copyright: MSF | Location: Palestinian Territories
Ita Joice, 27 years old, meets her baby girl, Juan, during her caesarean section in Mundari County Hospital, the only secondary healthcare facility in Kajo Keji, Central Equatoria. | Date taken: 25/03/2024 | Photographer: Manon Massiat | Location: South Sudan
Shahid Khan helps his son Abdul Rehman with his homework inside their home in Machar Colony. Shahid Khan has successfully completed his hepatitis C treatment, Karachi, Pakistan. | Date taken: 24/04/2024 | Photographer: Asim Hafeez | Location: Pakistan
View of hilly landscapes in Minova health zone, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic of Congo | Date taken: 03/04/2024 | Photographer: Hugh Cunningham | Location: DRC
Aerial view of the migrant camp at the edge of the Rio Bravo that separates Matamoros, Tamaulipas, from Brownsville, Texas | Date taken: 19/03/2024 | Copyright: MSF | Location: Mexico
Displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip carry their belongings as they leave following an evacuation order by the Israeli army on May 6, 2024 | Date taken: 06/05/2024 | Copyright: MSF | Location: Palestinian Territories
Photograph taken inside Nasser Hospital, after a siege by the Israeli forces. At the end of January, the Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for the entire area and surrounded the hospital, which found itself at the centre of intense fighting for several weeks. | Date taken: 23/04/2024 | Photographer: Ben Milpas | Location: Palestinian Territories
On 8 June 2024, after instructions from the Italian authorities, the 11 bodies which were recovered from the Mediterranean Sea the day before, were transferred by the Geo Barents team to an Italian Coast Guard vessel near Lampadusa | Date taken: 08/06/2024 | Photgrapher: Frederic Seguin | Location: Mediterranean Sea
MSF’s Munira Gulomova conducts a mental health consultation with Akmal Uganov, 25, at his home in the city of Tursunzoda, Tajikistan. Uganov fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) in 2019. “At first, his mother got tuberculosis. She was ashamed of her illness and didn’t seek treatment. As a result, she passed away. Her father also died of tuberculosis," Dr. Maysara Shifoeva, MSF staff says. MSF started to provide support to Uganov after the death of his parents. It included monthly medical | Date taken: 15/05/2024 | Photographer: Natalia Chekotun | Location: Tajikistan
Hin So, MSF midwife activity manager checking on a newborn baby at Nasser Hospital, southern Gaza. | Date taken: 23/06/2024 | Photographer: Mariam Abu Dagga | Location: Palestinian Territories
Maryam Muhammad and the MSF health promotion team conduct a Tom Brown sensitization session for men in Kebbi. Convincing men to support the approach is key as the mostly are the one supplying the family. For cultural reasons, MSF organizes separated sessions for men and women | Date taken: 01/02/2024 | Photographer: Georg Gassauer | Location: Nigeria
In the operating theatre of the Salama clinic in Bunia, a team of surgeons and anaesthetists from the Ministry of Health and MSF work together to treat trauma patients. In their first year of operation, the teams performed 2,050 operations at the Bunia surgery centre, Ituri, 2 June 2024. | Date taken: 26/06/2024 | Photographer: Marion Molinari | Location: DRC
The patient has broken ribs, which makes it difficult for him to breathe, and burns on his legs and hands. Ihor remembers that he was blown up by a mine. It is difficult to remember the events of that day | Date taken: 07/08/2024 | Photographer: Olexandr Glyadyelov | Location: Ukraine
mother and child inside the therapeutic feeding center for malnourished children at the MSF Hospital in Metche, in eastern Chad, August 7, 2024. Metche camp hosts about 40,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled violence in Darfur. | Date taken: 08/08/2024 | Photographer: Finbarr O’Reilly | Location: Chad
Omar stands in the rubble of his home after it was bulldozed by Israeli forces in Jenin refugee camp | Date taken: 12/09/2024 | Photographer: Alexandre Marcou | Location: Palestinian Territories
Road between Abyei Town and Agok, Abyei Special Administrative Area. The 38-kilometer trip from Agok to Abyei takes over 6 hours due to poor roads. MSF uses a tractor to navigate mud bogs. The road conditions prevent water and sanitation trucks from reaching Abyei | Date taken: 29/08/2024 | Photographer: Aurélie Lécrivain | Location: South Sudan
Karam, 17, from Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza, during a physiotherapy session at MSFÕs Reconstructive Surgery Hospital in Amman, Jordan. Karam nearly died after his familyÕs house was leveled by an Israeli airstrike. He suffered severe burns to his face and other areas of his body, and also suffered a serious injury to his arm. He is receiving comprehensive reconstructive surgery and physiotherapy at the MSF hospital in Amman. | Date taken: 27/08/2024/ Photographer: Moises Saman | Location: Jordan, Palestinian Territories
The US Mexico border wall ends, and a chest-high fence continues to mark the US-Mexico border. This place, 18 miles East of Sasabe, Arizona, is used as a crossing point into the US by migrants and asylum seekers. The End of the Wall camp is located right across from this gap. | Date taken: 16/08/2024 | Photographer: Maria Elena Romero | Location: USA- Mexico border
Following the explosion of a fuel tanker in Mirogôane on 14 September, many injured people were treated at various MSF facilities. Six patients are currently being treated at the MSF trauma hospital in Carrefour. MSF teams are working hard to provide them with the necessary care. One of them, Kenol Coman, has extensive severe burns on several parts of his body. | Date taken: 18/09/2024 | Photgrapher: Quentin Bruno Vanbergen | Location: Haiti
Nyala Teaching Hospital, Destruction | Date taken: 05/09/2024 | Photographer: Abdalla Berima | Location: Sudan
Maryam gets a supply of supplementary feeding product as she stays in the intensive care ward of MSF’s inpatient nutrition hospital in Maiduguri with her mother Maryam | Date taken: 28/08/2024 | Photographer: Abba Adamu Musa | Location: Nigeria
MSF van crossing a wooden bridge, a short distance away from a primary healthcare facility MSF is supporting in Cross River state. The wooden bridge was constructed after the concrete bridge collapsed. It is now old too, so, MSF van must cross without passengers to reduce weight. An MSF logistician guides the van as it drives across the wooden bridge | Date taken: 19/04/2024 | Photographer: Abba Adamu Musa | Location: Nigeria
man standing on a canoe near the town of Old Fangak. The Sudd region is one of the world's largest wetlands. Its inhabitants have adapted their lives to the natural ebb and flow of seasonal floods, which depend on rainfall patterns and water levels in upstream Lake Victoria, Uganda. However in recent years extreme flooding has engulfed up to two-thirds of South Sudan. In Old Fangak, only mud dykes protect the town's thousands of inhabitants from submersion. Old Fangak, Jonglei state, South Sudan, July 2024 | Date taken: 22/07/2024 | Photographer: Simon Rolin | Location: South Sudan
Ezdihar al Diqa, 39 ans, et sa fille Nouraya, 14 ans, dans la chambre qu’elles partagent depuis le 29 septembre avec 14 autres personnes dans le camp de déplacés d'Azariye dans le centre de la capitale libanaise. Vivant à Dahieh, Ezdihar a quitté la banlieue sud de Beyrouth avec son mari et ses deux enfants dans la soirée du 28 septembre après avoir reçu une alerte de bombardement visant leur quartier. Alors que son mari a rejoint un village du Mont Liban pour accompagner sa mère dont l’état de santé ne permettait pas de rester en ville, Ezdihar est restée à Beyrouth avec ses deux enfants. Après une première nuit passée dans la rue avec 14 de ses voisins, le groupe rejoint le camp de déplacés d'Azariye. | Date taken: 11/10/2024 | Photographer: Antoni Lallican/Hans Lucas | Location: Lebanon
Syrian refugee Kazem, 20, left, and his sister Marimar, 14, hold their kittens in a parking lot in the city of Saida, south of Lebanon, Wednesday, October 16, 2024, where Syrian refugees, who lived in the south of Lebanon, have found refuge after the Israeli escalation on Lebanon. Syrian refugee Shams (not on the picture), whose name means "sun" in Arabic, remains bright and warm, despite the hardships she and her family have endured. Along with her children – Mimar (24), Mimas, Kazem (20), and Marimar (14) – Shams was displaced from Kfar Roumane and now lives in a parking lot in Saida, southern Lebanon. With an enduring smile, she recounts the moments her family escaped Israeli airstrikes in the town they had called home for over a decade, fleeing for twelve hours | Date taken: 16/10/2024 | Photographer: Dalia Khamissy | Location: Lebanon
Overflow patient tent at Mayen Abun Hospital Overflow ward to cope with increase in malaria cases South Sudan is in the middle of malaria season. The majority of patients at Mayen Abun Hospital are positive for malaria, some of them suffering from severe cases. Due to the increase in severe cases, the hospital bed occupancy rate is over 100% (they originally have 86 beds). To accommodate all the patients who need to be admitted for treatment and follow-up | Date taken: 17/10/2024 | Photographer: Paula Casado Aguirregabiria | Location: South Sudan
Teresa Arteaga, with Lorena Rodriguez, MSF health promotion supervisor, participate in the release of Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes in the community of Canaan | Date taken: 01/09/2024 | Photographer: Martín Cálix | Location: Honduras
The main focus of MSF's work in the Auaris region's communities is to reduce malaria infections. The disease is endemic across the Amazon region, where the Yanomami Indigenous Territory is located. With this aim, our teams carry out activities to diagnose and treat malaria, as well as to raise awareness about the disease and prevent it. Furthermore, MSF supports the Yanomami and Ye'kwana branch of the Indigenous Health System by providing primary healthcare, mental health and health promotion services. Our multidisciplinary team hasaround 20 staff across different areas, such as: doctors, psychologists, nurses, microscopists, health promoters, anthropologists and intercultural mediators. | Date taken: 15/06/2024 | Photographer: Diego Baravelli | Location: Brazil
“During incursions, basic needs in the refugee camps are not met. Essentials like hygiene items, diapers, baby formula, and water are scarce. The destruction is severe, with critical infrastructure, including water systems, heavily damaged.” Alix Meert, MSF Project Coordinator | Date taken: 16/10/2024 | Photographer: Oday Alshobaki | Location: Palestinian Territories
Rihana, a 28-year-old patient participating in the endTB-Q clinical trial, sits for an audiometric examination in a soundproof booth to verify her hearing capacity during a routine consultation at the endTB clinic run by Interactive Research & Development (IRD) in Kotri, Pakistan. The trial aims to test a short treatment for a very hard-to-treat form of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis - an airborne infectious disease that has grown resistant to standard medications: pre-extensively drugresistant TB (pre-XDR-TB). endTB is a 7-year partnership among Partners In Health (PIH), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Interactive Research & Development (IRD) | Date taken: 26/04/2024 | Photographer: Asim Hafeez | Location: Pakistan
Aisha (14), from Yemen working on a handcraft artwork in a workshop at the MSF hospital art school. During her latest treatment visit to the hospital, between April-May 2024, Aisha learnt how to make use of her prostethics to gain independence, through occupational therapy sessions. MSF hospital, Amman, Joran. April 2024. | Date taken: 02/05/2024 | Photographer: Rehab Eldalil | Location: Jordan
Mr Yurii has been in hospital for a month and a half, following a mine-blast injury that resulted in amputation. "I was in trauma for a month, trying to save my leg, but the infection was severe. Initially, I was very worried, but I accepted it. They showed me how to train and the types of prostheses available, and I realised I could walk again. Now I’m actively working with MSF psychologists and physical therapists. They listen, offer advice, and bring me interesting books. I enjoy historical and professional ones; the last ones were about Genghis Khan and the Cossacks. I still want to learn to drive, so I have work ahead of me." | Date taken: 22/10/2024 | Photographer: Yuliia Trofimova | Location: Ukraine
Margarita Rojas Mena, in Mojaudó, stitched up the photograph of the community school, wounded by bullets from an armed confrontation. Mojaudó, Alto Baudó, Chocó. | Date taken: 12/07/2024 | Photographer: Fernanda Pineda | Location: Colombia
caravan of migrants escorted by police officers advances along the route between the towns of La Venta and Juchitán, in southern Mexico | Date taken: 23/10/2024 | Photographer: Adri Salido | Location: Mexico
While shopping with her mother at a nearby market this 20-month-old toddler was struck by shrapnel after a bomb-blast tore through the neighbourhood. Along with other casualties the unnamed girl was brought to the Bashair Training Hospital in South Khartoum. During the Xray a part of the girls skull cap fell onto the table. An MSF emergency team operated on the girl and managed to save her life. | Date taken: 07/11/2024 | Copyright: MSF | Location: Sudan
People working in a rice mill located at the entrance to Makurdi town, capital of Benue State, are sifting rice and separating grains. Because of the importance of agriculture in the state, Benue is known as the food basket of Nigeria. Makurdi, Benue, North Central Nigeria, December 2023 | Date taken: 13/12/2023 | Photographer: Alexandre Marcou | Location: Nigeria
Zethu Mlobeli
Director of Communications, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Southern Africa
About Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a global network of principled medical and other professionals who specialise in medical humanitarian work, driven by our common humanity and guided by medical ethics. We strive to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflicts, crises, and disasters in more than 70 countries worldwide.
In South Africa, the organisation is recognised as one of the pioneers of providing Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) in the public sector and started the first HIV programmes in South Africa in 1999. Until today, the focus of MSF’s interventions in the country has primarily been on developing new testing and treatment strategies for HIV/AIDS and TB in Eshowe (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and Khayelitsha (Western Cape).
In Tshwane, we run a migration project, and we offer medical and psychosocial care to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, who struggle to access public health services under South Africa’s increasingly restrictive.
Previously we offered free, high-quality, confidential medical care to survivors of SGBV in Rustenburg.
To learn more about our work in South Africa, please visit this page on our website (www.msf.org.za). To support MSF’s work:
- SMS “JOIN” to 42110 to donate R30 Once-off
- Visit https://www.msf.org.za/donate