Ondřej Šimetka (CZE)

During his medical studies, Ondřej decided he would become a member of Doctors Without Borders, and in 1999 he became the second Czech doctor to do so. He then spent several years with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other organizations (UN, Caritas) on a total of ten humanitarian and development projects in Asia and Africa. Over the past 20 years, he has been actively involved in the Maternal Mortality Reduction Program in Timor-Leste, working as a physician, trainer, and guarantor of physician education for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).

In 2007, Ondřej and his wife helped establish the Czech branch of MSF and Ondřej later served as a member of the board of the Austrian and Czech branches of MSF. He received the Via Foundation’s Via Bona award for Philanthropy and the Genderman 2022 award for efforts to improve Czech obstetrics. Since 2020, he has also been a member of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. From time to time, he cannot resist some great sports or travel challenges.