One health for everyone, everywhere.
From the beginning, Veterinarians Without Borders has kept an eye on the Big Picture when designing and implementing projects around the world. Our approach is best defined by the related concepts of Ecohealth and One Health, which suggest that people and animals can only be healthy if the environment they live in is healthy.
This means clean air and water, soil healthy enough to support plants, and animals - both wild and domestic - that are healthy and available as sources of food that will not transmit disease to humans.
Our approach ensures that people and communities are involved in the decisions that affect their health and environment. Our focus on animals is just part of our care for the delicate balance of health that includes soil, air, water, topography, population density, markets, culture, and tradition.
A key to the approach is collaboration - across disciplines, professions, and groups - that builds holistic solutions with a lens of inter-connectedness. One Health has its roots in veterinary medicine but has come to involve human health practitioners, social scientists, environmental scientists, and others.
We focus on animal health care as integrally tied to human and ecosystem health. By treating all three, we create sustainable solutions for the planet.
Our work happens on the ground in every program country: in community meetings, training local people on animal health care, delivering vaccinations, helping to form co-ops, training women, children and families in food production, nutrition, husbandry and disease control.
Our projects are built to be repeatable and to promote sustainability over the long term so that communities can grow independent and strong and act as models for others.
We respect people, culture, local knowledge, human rights, laws and customs, animal welfare, and the environment.
We are guided by the communities we work with and we are committed to participatory and inclusive approaches to development. Sustainable solutions are most often created when locally identified and owned.
We are committed to sharing our expertise and knowledge and continuously learning from our partners.
Veterinarians Without Borders North America/Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Amérique du Nord couldn't do the work we do without your support. Whether it's a financial donation or a donation of your time, by improving the health of animals you will be working to improve the health and quality of life for people throughout the world.
This story profiles Donatha Anyinkamiye, Executive Secretary of Tare Sector, whose leadership and advocacy are helping COHERS turn One Health awareness into lasting, community-led change in Rwanda.
In this edition of Ask an Expert, we connected with Dave Shuey, a Veterinary Social Worker with IndeVets, about the growing field of veterinary social work and how innovative practice models can help bring balance, fulfilment, and sustainability back to veterinary medicine.
#VETSVolunteerVoices brings you stories of our passionate VETS program volunteers from the field. Meet Grace Friesen, an Animal Health Advisor who spent three months in Kenya (May–August 2025) with our local partner, Meru Dairy, helping farmers improve herd health and milk production while learning firsthand how knowledge exchange can strengthen entire communities.
