Overview/Background MRCA/Relief International – France is a non-governmental organization providing healthcare services, economic opportunity, education, WASH, and mainstreaming protection for vulnerable communities in Afghanistan. The bulk of our activities aims to improve healthcare in Afghanistan by: managing hospitals and health facilities, training community health workers, conducting hygiene and sanitation projects, operating mobile clinics for returnees and displaced persons, and improving maternal healthcare inside the country. Our History Founded in 1985 as Medical Refresher Courses for Afghanistan (MRCA), we have worked to strengthen Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system through the provision of services and training for local Afghan practitioners. These activities focus on improving access to healthcare in vulnerable Afghan communities, particularly in conflict-affected areas of the country. As of 2018, the organization grew to have a staff of 1,100 staff and a network of 1,800 volunteers working in hospitals across Afghanistan to provide nutritional assistance malaria prevention, and vaccinations, among other health services. The organization began its work in 1986 offering medical training to Afghan refugees displaced to Peshawar, Pakistan. MRCA, as it was then known, operated a training hospital along the Afghan-Pakistan border that provided healthcare to refugees in the camps and worked to train the next generation of medical professionals to rebuild Afghanistan’s health system upon their return home. Over the past two decades, in part due to our organization efforts, Afghanistans health system has shown steady improvements, particularly as health coverage increases throughout the country. In March 2019, MRCA joined Relief Internationals (RI) alliance network and was renamed MRCA/Relief International – France. Relief International is an international non-profit that supports fragile communities in seventeen countries that began operations in Afghanistan in 2001, reconstructing schools and training midwives. Since then, RI has teamed with local communities to provide emergency response to natural disasters, and to tackle challenges in health, agriculture, education, governance and civil society. Globally across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, primary health care makes up the majority of RIs programming, including through community health workers, primary care facilities and hospitals. The RI-MRCA affiliation is a natural partnership, yielding a combined focus in health, economic opportunity, education, WASH, and mainstreaming protection. MRCA/Relief International – France continues the historic mission of MRCA in Afghanistan while complementing RIs activities and operations in other fragile settings across the globe. ADDRESS Qalah-e Fatulah Kabul AFGHANISTAN PARIS Office 3 bis, rue de Budapest FRANCE PHONE/FAX +33(0)1 40 44 96 26 |