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Rebuilding devastated health systems.

Worked in over 40 countries.

At the beginning of 1993, three friends resolved in a London apartment to assemble a convoy of essential food and medicines bound for Bosnia. Since then, Merlin has grown dramatically to become a leading international health organization. Like many of its counterparts, Merlin delivers relief and recovery programs in countries where extreme poverty, natural or man-made disasters have destroyed health services. At the same time, Merlin can be distinguished for one simple reason – it stays to help re-build health infrastructures, and it stays for as long as this takes. 

Merlin’s personnel are scattered across many of the toughest operating environments around the world. To date, the organization has worked in over 40 countries to reduce needless loss of life – amongst others, during the Rwandan genocide, the Asian tsunami, the earthquake in Haiti and the devastating Pakistani floods of 2011. 

By working directly with ministries of health, healthcare staff in local communities and other grassroots organizations, Merlin is able to build national capacities and embed best practices within local systems, so as to continue to save lives long after the organization’s departure. Not only boosting regular health services, this preventive approach also serves to increase the resilience of at-risk countries in the face of future shocks.

(Photo © Jenny Matthews / Merlin)