Nobel Peace Prize winners
The 1999 Nobel Peace Prize has been won by the medical aid charity, Médecins sans Frontières. Announcing the award in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the organisation for its pioneering humanitarian work on several continents. Médecins sans Frontières was founded in 1971 as the world's first non-governmental organisation specialising in emergency medical assistance.
Médecins sans Frontières was founded days before Christmas 1971 by a group of French doctors. The name means "Doctors without Borders". The original team was made up of members who had worked with the Red Cross in the gruelling conditions of the Biafra war. The organisation has achieved prominence in the world of international relief work through its commitment to attend disaster scenes amongst the toughest in the world - including Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan and Rwanda.
From its headquarters in Brussels, the organisation pioneered the use of the mass media as a primary means for campaigning and fund raising. MSF has been nominated for the prize four times before, and now joins other winners including the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Bishop Carlos Belo of East Timor, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and last year's winners John Hume and David Trimble.
