Bernard Kouchner is one of the founders of the Nobel Peace Prize–laureate Médecins sans Frontières (1971) and one of the founders of Médecins du Monde (1980). Kouchner has been appointed several times as the Minister of Health (1992-2002) and served as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of France (2007- 2011). 

He was appointed by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, as his Special Representative for Kosovo (1999-2001). Kouchner was also a member of the European Parliament and taught at the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Bernard Kouchner has published 12 books and many essays on international and national politics, as well as on public health and development issues. He has been awarded several international distinctions on human rights and medicine.