Bernard Kouchner Keynote Speaker

Renowned French humanitarian activist and diplomat
French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs (2007-10)
Co-founder, Médécins Sans Frontières (1971)

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Bernard Kouchner's Biography

Dr. Bernard Kouchner was French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs from 2007 to 2010.

A politician with over 18 years’ ministerial and diplomatic experience in various French governments and international governmental organisations, Bernard is also a renowned humanitarian activist.

He is known for his passionate declarations on human rights and the need to intervene to protect them. A doctor by training, he co-founded the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Médécins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in 1971 to put his beliefs into action, after working as a young doctor for the Red Cross in Biafra in 1968 during Nigeria’s civil war.

In 1992, Bernard Kouchner was appointed Health Minister under the socialist President Francois Mitterrand. He also served as UN Special Representative to Kosovo from 1999 to 2001.

He has written several books in which he details his beliefs on human rights and international politics. He is co-founder of magazines L’Evenement and Actuel and has won many human rights awards.