Medair is an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) whose purpose is to relieve human suffering in some of the world's most remote and devastated places.

Medair aims to assist people affected by natural disasters and conflict to recover with dignity through the delivery of quality humanitarian aid.

[1] Founded in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, in 1989,[2] Medair is inspired by the Christian faith to serve the most vulnerable—regardless of race, gender, religion, age, or nationality.

[3] In 1988, Dr. Erik Volkmar and Dr. Josiane Volkmar-André were asked to travel to conflict-torn Soroti, Uganda with the support of three partner organisations—Medicaments pour L'Afrique (MEDAF), Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), and Youth with a Mission (YWAM)—to establish an organisation that would combine the efforts of the three organisations in order to respond more quickly and effectively to the growing crisis.

[5] Medair was co-founded in 1989 in Switzerland by a group of eight volunteers led by Dr. Erik Volkmar and Dr. Josiane Volkmar-André—both trained physicians and experienced humanitarian aid workers.

[6] In the years following, Medair expanded its programming to include projects assisting internally displaced people in Sudan, Liberia, and Iraq.

[5] By 1995, Medair was operating independently from its founding organisations,[6] but continues to partner with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) today when its activities require them to travel to difficult-to-reach places inaccessible by car or foot.

[10] With expertise in health and nutrition, emergency shelter, water and sanitation,[11] and cash assistance,[12] more than 4.6 million people worldwide received direct support from Medair 2022.

Zindler held a number of corporate positions with companies including Credit Suisse and Swissair before accepting the role of CEO for Medair.

[14] Ingram began working for Medair years prior as its Finance Director and was a member of the Executive Leadership Team.

[3] Medair recruits experienced and new relief workers with expertise in project management, health services, nutrition, water, human resources, logistics, communications and infrastructure rehabilitation.

Medair directly implements its programming in its field locations and works with partner organisations when needed to access hard-to-reach, affected populations.

Medair implements projects to meet the urgent needs of people affected by crisis and natural disaster, including emergency relief, shelter support, medical care, nutrition services, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

[20] Medair focuses primarily on four areas of need:[11] In 2022, Medair responded to emergencies in 13 countries and to some of the worst humanitarian disasters, including the conflict in Ukraine/Poland, the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, the refugee crisis in Lebanon and Syria, flooding and disease outbreaks in South Sudan, flooding and cyclones in Madagascar, and drought and conflict in Somalia.

Medair's Building Back Better approach is used in the recovery phase to help affected communities safeguard against future disasters.

[27] Medair uses GIS (Geographical Information Systems) mapping technology to help identify and track refugee communities in Lebanon.

[32] After the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, staff were operational in the district of Ampara—the hardest hit area of Sri Lanka—within five days.

[35] In the recovery phase, Medair helped restore livelihoods by redistributing livestock and seeds to farmers who had lost theirs in the earthquake.

[36] In 2010, Medair made headlines for a study conducted with partner NGO, Save the Children, which revealed high rates of malnutrition in Akobo, South Sudan.

Medair has assembled emergency shelter and hygiene kits, although access to the affected coastal communities of Tiburon Peninsula was very difficult.

[45] Medair continues to support Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan today, and expanded programming into Syria in 2015.

[48] In 2001, Medair became the first European NGO to obtain ISO 9001:2000 worldwide certification—a family of international quality management standards and guidelines normally applied to industry.

[51] In 2013, Medair joined the global Integral Alliance[52]—a network of Christian relief and development agencies that facilitates collaboration and unity among similar humanitarian organisations to increase the capacity and quality of disaster response.

[54] Medair's offices in Switzerland have received the ZEWO seal of approval, which is a Swiss label that identifies non-profit organisations who spend funds responsibly.