Key dates

1988: The “La Chaîne de l’Espoir Programme” is launched by Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde), at that time chaired by Professor Alain Deloche.

1994: Creation of the non-profit association “La Chaîne de l’Espoir”; the first children are brought to France for operations.

1998: La Chaîne de l’Espoir is officially recognised as a charitable organisation and registered as an organisation of “public interest”.

2001: The “Institut du cœur de Maputo” is opened in Mozambique and the Phnom Penh cardiovascular centre opens in Cambodia.  
The Afghan Children Association (L’association Enfants afghans) is created. It will pilot a project to build a children’s hospital (l’Institut Médical Français pour l’Enfant - IMFE) in Kabul, Afghanistan.

2002: Start of sponsorship programmes in Togo and Cambodia.

2003: Laying of the first stone for the IMFE, in Kabul. A fund is set up to tutor children from Cambodia that have undergone operations.

2004: The “Maison Bleue” is opened in Buriram, Thailand, to look after orphaned or abandoned children.

2006: The IMFE, in Kabul, is inaugurated by President Karzai and Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan. The first open heart surgery is performed in the history of Afghanistan.

2008: Opening of a children’s home (La Maison des Enfants afghans) and of an educational programme in the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan.

2010: Eric Cheysson becomes chairman of La Chaîne de l’Espoir.

2012: Laying of the first stone for a mother and baby unit (Pôle Mère-Enfant) in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Award of the quality label “Idéas”. 
First mission in Jordan, for the children of Syria.

2013: First open heart surgery in Brazzaville, Congo.

2014: Opening of a neuroscience centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Laying of the first stone for a second children’s home (Maison des Enfants afghans) in Afghanistan.
Granted the European Quality Award, for our commitment to excellence (EFQM).

2015: Launch of our health education program in Kathmandu, Nepal, providing a daycare center and psycho-social support for at-risk children in the area.

2016: First consultations of our newly constructed Cuomo Center for Pediatric Cardiology (CCPC) in Dakar, Senegal.

2017: Launch of our health education program in Haiti, in the Grand’Anse region.

2018: Opening of our André Festoc Cardiac Center in Bamako, Mali, where the first ever open-heart surgery in the country was performed.

2019: Successful separation surgery performed in France on former conjoined sisters, Bissie and Eyenga from Cameroon.

2020: Inauguration of a new operating room in the Sinjar Hospital, Northern Iraq, alongside 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad.