A displaced woman sits with her child in Massabiou, Central African Republic. 2007 © Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Every year, with the publication of its "Top Ten" Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) spotlights 10 humanitarian crisis that have received little or no attention from the media.

Over the decade that this list has been published, stories have included the plight of people living through forgotten crisis, such as the narcotics-related violence in Colombia, and utterly overlooked situations, such as civilians caught between armed rebels and government troops in Central African Republic. Destructive ongoing epidemics, including malaria and malnutrition, and medical catastrophes—tuberculosis, for example—that have received an inadequate international response round out the list.

MSF first published its "Top Ten" in 1998 when a devastating famine in southern Sudan went largely unreported in U.S. media. The primary purpose of the list was to generate greater awareness of forgotten or neglected crises, and, ultimately, to mobilize responses to humanitarian disasters.

"Certainly, many members of the press go to great lengths to report on what is taking place in conflict zones around the world," says Nicolas de Torrenté, Executive Director of the U.S. section of MSF. "But millions of people trapped in conflict, forced from their homes, and lacking the most basic medical care, are largely ignored year after year."

Some stories have shown up repeatedly on the list: civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo are subjected to armed conflict and massive internal displacement; the fighting in Chechnya is less intense than it has been, but the country's population is in dire need of medical care; and Somali civilians are being displaced and terrorized by waves of factional violence.

Top 10 Reports:

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