OSLO, Norway -- Doctors Without Borders, which changed the way the world views its role during conflict by claiming a right to intervene in any country to treat the wounded, sick and starving, won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize today.
The volunteer organization -- officially called by its French name Medecins sans Frontieres -- was set up in 1971 by 10 doctors, frustrated by the quiet neutrality of the International Committee of the Red Cross.The group quickly became known as "the French doctors," and the first wave of volunteers made their mark in helping the starving and ill victims in the war in Biafra 30 years ago; they have been present in hot spots around the globe since then, including the recent conflicts in Kosovo and East Timor.
The group "has adhered to the fundamental principle that all disaster victims, whether the disaster is natural or human in origin, have a right to professional assistance given as quickly and as efficiently as possible," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in announcing the award.
Doctors Without Borders has more than 2,000 medical professionals working in 80 countries. They hold as one of their most important tenets a "right to intervene" despite whatever the international or government policy is toward a government.
Bernard Kouchner, one of the group's founders who now serves as the top U.N. representative in Kosovo, said the award has made him reflect.
"I'm deeply moved, and I'm thinking of all the people who died without aid, of all those who died waiting for someone to knock on their door," he said.
"Am I proud? No. My feeling right now is that I'm very emotional and perhaps aware of the political importance of this prize.
"There have been detractors, people who laughed at us, but that's normal. They didn't understand," he said.
When Doctors Without Borders began sending doctors to conflicts, there were few independent, privately funded humanitarian aid groups working worldwide. The group's actions have since been imitated by other organizations in other nations and have set the tone for independent humanitarian aid work.
In nearly 30 years, the organization's doctors and volunteers have traveled to disaster areas in Nicaragua, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kosovo and now Timor.