James Orbinski
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Jude Orbinski (born 1960 in England) is a Canadian physician, writer and humanitarian activist. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Fellow at the Munk Centre for International Studies. He was President of the International Council of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, aka Doctors Without Borders) at the time the organization received the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. James Orbinski also is the co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of Dignitas International, a medical humanitarian organization working with communities to dramatically increase access to life-saving treatment and prevention in areas overwhelmed by HIV/AIDS.
He is closely associated with the University of Toronto's Massey College where he is a Senior Fellow and was the founding Saul Rae Fellow.
Among other things, he is an out-spoken advocate for increasing the availability of anti-retroviral drugs to combat AIDS in poor countries. He is considered a brilliant orator. In 1998, Orbinski received the Governor General's Meritorious Service Cross for his work as the MSF Head of Mission in Rwanda during the 1994 civil war. Médecins Sans Frontières currently has active projects in over 70 nations.
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[edit] President of MSF
Orbinski was president of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International Council from 1998 to 2001. He has worked with MSF since 1992 in a number of settings – including Goma, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in the fall of 1996 during the Rwandan refugee crisis; Kigali, Rwanda during the 1994 genocide; and Baidoa, Somalia during the civil war and famine of 1992-93.
His book An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the 21st Century talks about his experiences as a physician working for MSF in Rwanda during the genocide'.[1] An Imperfect Offering won the Writers' Trust of Canada's 2008 Shaughnessy Cohen Award.
He is the subject of the award-winning 2005 CBC documentary Evil Revisited, which documented Orbinski's visit to Rwanda on the tenth anniversary of the genocide, his first such visit since the violence'[2] He is also the subject of the 2007 documentary Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma, which follows Orbinski's return to Somalia, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.[3][4]
[edit] Activism
He was a founder of the McMaster University Health Reach Program that investigates and promotes the health of children in war zones, and he was a founding member of MSF Canada in 1990. He was President of the Médecins Sans Frontières International Council from 1998 to 2001. Currently, Mr. Orbinski serves on the advisory boards of Engineers Without Borders/Ingénieurs sans frontières Canada and [1].
[edit] Education and honours
Orbinski received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Trent University in 1984, an MD from McMaster University in (1990), and a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto in (1998).
In 2001, Orbinski was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Trent University. He was awarded a second honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor in 2006. In 2009 he was awarded a third honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Laurentian University at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine's charter class graduation.
[edit] External links
- Dignitas International - Dr. James Orbinski
- Dr. Orbinski - National Speakers Bureau Profile
- Access to Medicines Campaign - *Centre for International Health
- Médecins Sans Frontières – Nobel Lecture
