Who we are

Our Mission

Across the globe, children and families face a crisis: A lack of access to safe surgery. United Surgeons for Children pursues greater health and opportunity for children in the most neglected pockets of the world, with a specific focus and expertise in surgery. We pursue holistic health programming that includes:

Volunteer surgical missions to meet children’s urgent health needs;
Training programs to build local capacities that are currently missing in the community;
Building and equipping of medical facilities to create lasting infrastructure for health; and
In-school education programs to promote healthy behaviors among children, thereby avoiding future needs for intervention.

At La Chaîne de l’Espoir, the year 2022 was rich in action and achievements:

more than 10,000 patients operated
more than 170,000 beneficiaries of our programs
more than 430 days of training
400 m³ and 40 tons of equipment and medical consumables shipped
33 countries of intervention
70 medical missions

Many thanks to our partners and supporters!

Our Vision

Our programs save lives and avert disability – creating a world in which all people, regardless of wealth or nationality, can have the opportunity to thrive in health.

Board of Directors

Staff

Volunteer Surgeon

With 17 years of experience, professor and surgeon Jean-Paul Couetil is specialized in thoracic and cardiovascular surgeries. He joined the USFC – La Chaîne de L’Espoir International network in 2018 and has been on missions to Bamako, Mali.

“Just like all doctors and surgeons, I stand for the right to live. I always wanted to take my role as a surgeon further and work for developing countries. So I immediately said yes when USFC – La Chaîne de L’Espoir International gave me the opportunity to travel to Africa. I was fully ready to go there with three focuses in mind: practicing surgery, teaching skills and continuing my relationships on the ground with patients and trainees through subsequent trips. The local medical teams that I met in Mali are extremely professional, enthusiastic and very open, and I was even surprised by their high level of skill in the use of modern technology and echocardiography.”