Ärzte der Welt e. V. is the German division of the international network Médecins du Monde/Doctors of the World (MdM). The MdM network provides medical assistance worldwide to people affected by crises or marginalized – regardless of their ethnic, social, religious and political background. Ärzte der Welt / MdM Germany pursues the vision of a world in which all people have access to health care: a world in which health is recognized as a fundamental right for all. The mission of the organization is to provide short, medium and long-term free health support and medical assistance all over the world, including Germany, to people who have no or limited access to healthcare due to environmental disasters, accidents, armed conflicts and exclusion of any kind. The purpose of the organization is also to promote public health, welfare and development cooperation. The humanitarian and political work of MdM Germany is in line with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are independent, committed to social justice and to the rights of our patients.
In 2019, Ärzte der Welt became part of the response to a protracted crisis in eastern Ukraine, joining Medicos del Mundo (MdM Spain) in addressing the needs of the healthcare system and the most vulnerable population in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, being the most affected by the crisis at the time. In 2022, due to the rapid advance of the Russian army in those eastern regions, both MdM Germany and MdM Spain had to relocate the operations to other regions of Ukraine, and supported first, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities across Ukraine, and later, when the frontline fluctuation had slowed down, also the residents of the communities in the frontline proximity. Currently MdM Germany has operational presence in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk GCA, and Vinnytsia regions, with coordination office in the city of Dnipro; MdM Spain works in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernivtsi regions, with coordination office in Kyiv city.