2021 Financial independence and accountability

As part of Doctors Without Border/Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) effort to guarantee our independence, we strive to maintain a high level of private income. In 2021, 97.1 per cent of MSF’s income came from private sources.

More than seven million individual donors and private foundations worldwide made this possible. Public institutional agencies providing funding to MSF included, among others, the governments of Canada, Japan and Switzerland, the Global Fund and the International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID).

HOW WAS THE MONEY SPENT? figures in millions	2021		2020
Social mission
Program expenses2	$1,653.7	65%	$1,653.9	64%
Program support	$310.8	12%	$310.5	12%
Awareness-raising and Access Campaign	$61.8	2%	$65.7	3%
Other humanitarian activities	$37.4	1%	$39.7	1%
Total social mission	$2,063.9	80%	$2,069.8	80%
Other expenses
Fundraising	$388.6	15%	$382.5	15%
Management and general administration	$113.7	5%	$117.8	5%
Total other expenses	$502.3	20%	$500.3	20%
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES	$2,566.2	100%	$2,570.1	100%

WHERE DID THE MONEY COME FROM?	2021		2020
Private income	$2,713.9	97.1%	$2,827.5	97.2%
Public institutional income	$41.3	1.5%	$40.5	1.4%
Other income	$30.7	1.4%	$41.6	1.4%
TOTAL INCOME	$2,785.9	100%	$2,909.6	100%

¹ Program expenses represent expenses incurred in the projects or by headquarters on behalf of the projects. All expenses are allocated in line with the main activities performed by MSF according to the full cost method. Therefore, all expense categories include salaries, direct costs and allocated overheads (e.g. building costs and depreciation).

Taken from the latest MSF International Activity Report, financial activities originally published in euros are converted to Canadian dollars at the average rate for the current year. The average rate in 2021 was 1.4393. Rounding may result in apparent inconsistencies in totals.

Why total euro figures are included above: Year over year increase in fundraising income continued in 2021. However, the strengthening of the Canadian dollar in 2021 resulted in lower Canadian dollar converted figures.