World Service director to co-chair Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response

Maria Immonen: “Many challenges in the humanitarian field”

(LWI) - The director of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) department for World Service, Maria Immonen, has been appointed vice-chair of the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR).

"I am happy and excited to take up this new responsibility within a context of so many upcoming challenges in the humanitarian field at all levels - operational, related to the existing response mechanisms in place, and political,” Immonen says.

I am happy and excited to take up this new responsibility within a context of so many upcoming challenges in the humanitarian field at all levels - operational, related to the existing response mechanisms in place, political.

“SCHR is a key player and advocate for the joint agendas of INGOs in this field and has access to many relevant forums where issues can be debated, discussed and decided. Among the most important of these is the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) of the UN, where SCHR has a standing invitation to participate.”

The Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) is a voluntary alliance of nine of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations, which come together to support quality, accountability and learning in humanitarian action. Members besides LWF are ACT Alliance, Care, Caritas, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Oxfam, Save the Children, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and World Vision.

LWF World Service is the humanitarian and development arm of the LWF. It is a widely recognized, international, faith-based organization working in 28 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and serving more than 2.3 million people in need.